Tbh,i'd rather just see GNE gain back the services they lost
(19 Sep 2020, 8:43 am)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]No idea how true this is but a fellow parent whos child go's to the same school as my son has said that theres 1 specific 335 that doesnt turn up,think its the one round about 3pm (ish) that he said,like said no idea how true it is or if its even true at all,i very rarely use it myself,last time i did use it was back in May,and even then it was a different time and was also going in the other direction,anywho apart from that i had a little suggestion
What about scrapping the 319 to Jarrow and either extending the 333 or 335?
They should probably report it to Nexus if its a repeat occurrence.
(19 Sep 2020, 10:17 am)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]Tbh,i'd rather just see GNE gain back the services they lost
I can't see it happening, unless Nexus change their 'race to the bottom' mentality towards procurement. Quality barely comes into it, due to its weighting compared to price.
(19 Sep 2020, 10:45 am)Adrian wrote [ -> ]I can't see it happening, unless Nexus change their 'race to the bottom' mentality towards procurement. Quality barely comes into it, due to its weighting compared to price.
On paper are GCT actually any worse than GNE in terms of quality though. Their vehicles are mostly newer, they have the same features (none of GNE secured Solos have anything) and didn't someone say awhile back that some now have USB's fitted (I might be dreaming there).
I'm not sure how the procurement system works but I can't imagine they can downgrade them for their service as in the main it's not really that bad, I'm sure GNE would've had a few missed runs aswell or not to the stage that it severly impacts them ratings wise anyway.
GCT get it hard on here, no-one ever gives them credit for the fact they've got 20 plate Enviro's running around and even the bread vans are new whether you like them or not (that's a different debate), they're certainly no-where near as bad as some make out on here and some of the other independents we've had in the past running around with complete tat.
Also it's not Nexus' and the tax payers job to top up big corporates to run the services which they don't feel like running as it doesn't suit them (GNE in particular) to whoever said give GNE them back. They're welcome to run their own routes any time they like.
(19 Sep 2020, 12:43 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]On paper are GCT actually any worse than GNE in terms of quality though. Their vehicles are mostly newer, they have the same features (none of GNE secured Solos have anything) and didn't someone say awhile back that some now have USB's fitted (I might be dreaming there).
I'm not sure how the procurement system works but I can't imagine they can downgrade them for their service as in the main it's not really that bad, I'm sure GNE would've had a few missed runs aswell or not to the stage that it severly impacts them ratings wise anyway.
GCT get it hard on here, no-one ever gives them credit for the fact they've got 20 plate Enviro's running around and even the bread vans are new whether you like them or not (that's a different debate), they're certainly no-where near as bad as some make out on here and some of the other independents we've had in the past running around with complete tat.
Also it's not Nexus' and the tax payers job to top up big corporates to run the services which they don't feel like running as it doesn't suit them (GNE in particular) to whoever said give GNE them back. They're welcome to run their own routes any time they like.
Quality needs to be quantified more than just vehicles thou imo. You could argue that Nexus should be mandating others things in their contracts like contactless payments and real time information when dishing out of their tenders.
My local routes are ran by Arriva Blyth, and their app (until recently) was a god send. Not having to wait at a bus stop wondering if the bus was going to arrive is a thing of the past and how many people now a days carries much money around with them. I do not think I have paid anything in cash for about 3 to 4 month now.
We are in 2020 now, and both the things mentioned should be just standard, unfortunately for passengers of routes operated by GCT, they just dont have it - which is a shame, but this is also where Nexus need to step up to the plate.
(19 Sep 2020, 3:35 pm)citaro5284 wrote [ -> ]Quality needs to be quantified more than just vehicles thou imo. You could argue that Nexus should be mandating others things in their contracts like contactless payments and real time information when dishing out of their tenders.
My local routes are ran by Arriva Blyth, and their app (until recently) was a god send. Not having to wait at a bus stop wondering if the bus was going to arrive is a thing of the past and how many people now a days carries much money around with them. I do not think I have paid anything in cash for about 3 to 4 month now.
We are in 2020 now, and both the things mentioned should be just standard, unfortunately for passengers of routes operated by GCT, they just dont have it - which is a shame, but this is also where Nexus need to step up to the plate.
Yeah both valid points, it was an open question that tbf I don't know anything about GCT they just seem to get attacked a lot as if they're running around with 15 year old darts etc. I never realised they didn't accept contactless but surely it can't be too hard to impliment they use the same ticketer ticket machines as the big 3 I believe.
I'm Arriva Blyth aswell and totally agree about the app though (it's a bit crap now mind) totally useful when the expresses like to run 10 minutes late at peak times but this is something I'd like to see from NECA / Nexus and is something which they should be doing imo. It would be really nice to have a place when you can check real time buses and also get timetables for all the operators in the North East or at least right now within Tyne and Wear rather than having to get the GNE app, get the Arriva app, does Stagecoach do it at all? not sure etc. Shame they're pretty crap and are too focused on their own Metro which is also crap.
(19 Sep 2020, 3:46 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Yeah both valid points, it was an open question that tbf I don't know anything about GCT they just seem to get attacked a lot as if they're running around with 15 year old darts etc. I never realised they didn't accept contactless but surely it can't be too hard to impliment they use the same ticketer ticket machines as the big 3 I believe.
I'm Arriva Blyth aswell and totally agree about the app though (it's a bit crap now mind) totally useful when the expresses like to run 10 minutes late at peak times but this is something I'd like to see from NECA / Nexus and is something which they should be doing imo. It would be really nice to have a place when you can check real time buses and also get timetables for all the operators in the North East or at least right now within Tyne and Wear rather than having to get the GNE app, get the Arriva app, does Stagecoach do it at all? not sure etc. Shame they're pretty crap and are too focused on their own Metro which is also crap.
Bit of a sweeping statement but I’m friends with a few Gateshead Central Taxis employees on Facebook and there seems to be a shortage of ticket machines since their award of a lot of contracts this year.
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(19 Sep 2020, 8:43 am)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]No idea how true this is but a fellow parent whos child go's to the same school as my son has said that theres 1 specific 335 that doesnt turn up,think its the one round about 3pm (ish) that he said,like said no idea how true it is or if its even true at all,i very rarely use it myself,last time i did use it was back in May,and even then it was a different time and was also going in the other direction,anywho apart from that i had a little suggestion
What about scrapping the 319 to Jarrow and either extending the 333 or 335?
The problem is not with GCT they are operating the service as instructed by Nexus the issue is out of date timetables at bus stops. The 335 operates to a 30 minute headway (approx) until the 14.48 off North Shields then there is a gap of 50 minutes with the service then returning to a 30 minutes headway.
(19 Sep 2020, 12:43 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]On paper are GCT actually any worse than GNE in terms of quality though. Their vehicles are mostly newer, they have the same features (none of GNE secured Solos have anything) and didn't someone say awhile back that some now have USB's fitted (I might be dreaming there).
I'm not sure how the procurement system works but I can't imagine they can downgrade them for their service as in the main it's not really that bad, I'm sure GNE would've had a few missed runs aswell or not to the stage that it severly impacts them ratings wise anyway.
GCT get it hard on here, no-one ever gives them credit for the fact they've got 20 plate Enviro's running around and even the bread vans are new whether you like them or not (that's a different debate), they're certainly no-where near as bad as some make out on here and some of the other independents we've had in the past running around with complete tat.
Also it's not Nexus' and the tax payers job to top up big corporates to run the services which they don't feel like running as it doesn't suit them (GNE in particular) to whoever said give GNE them back. They're welcome to run their own routes any time they like.
I'm all for offering best value to tax payers, however that also needs to be reflected in value to customers. I know in Washington, GCT fares are slightly cheaper than GNE, however the issue is that most already have bought day tickets on the GNE services. I've heard of a number of occasions where passengers with day tickets have been forced to pay when they should be accepting the tickets. On top of this, every GNE bus is equipped with contactless payment facility. Once the service is secured however and GCT take over, there is no such facility. The NSA's etc offered on board of most GNE services are also a feature which is not replicated. Like or loathe them, they are definitely a helpful feature especially on dark nights.
The buses they have as a rule are slightly newer but is this really a factor which should be considered apart from in terms of Euro emissions standards?
Most importantly in my opinion is the redundancy - if there is an issue on one of the GNE vehicles, a replacement will be sourced and deployed ASAP. I have heard of services being absent all night due to a breakdown although I confess this is hearsay so please don't take that comment as gospel. It's even down to the tracking (as previously mentioned in another reply) and the social media alerts. I know not everyone has access to Facebook or Twitter but at least those who do can check to see whether or not there is an issue en route and can make alternative arrangements if there is a delay or breakdown.
In regards to the breadvans, I believe that on the Washington services, they do not have the required capacity to fulfill the contract requirements. I have lost count of the times that there's been at least one breadvan out on a night. The other day, one of the ADLs was running round with a broken front blind (showing NIS on the rear and side) with 82 printed on a sheet on A4 stuck to the front windscreen.
I'm not trying to knock them, however, I strongly believe that a secured service should be like for like with what is run during the day - I.e. with the required capacity (especially in terms of fulfilling the contract), NSA's would be nice but not essential. However, most importantly in the current climate there should be the facility to pay by contactless.
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(19 Sep 2020, 3:57 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Bit of a sweeping statement but I’m friends with a few Gateshead Central Taxis employees on Facebook and there seems to be a shortage of ticket machines since their award of a lot of contracts this year.
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The ticket machine shortage is sorted, as of yesterday, when 6 new machines arrived from Ticketer. They are contactless enabled, but will only be used on 335 in the short term. Not sure when the contactless payment will advertised for use.
I'm led to believe that there was not a shortage of machines, but a shortage of working machines. Ticketer don't come out to service the machines, but they have to be sent away to Ticketer for repair.
The main reason that contactless is not available is the percentage that the banks take, and the actual small amount in takings make it financially unviable. Other hand, Nexus should stipulate that contactless payment must be available, allowing the bidders to fact this into their bids.
(19 Sep 2020, 3:57 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Bit of a sweeping statement but I’m friends with a few Gateshead Central Taxis employees on Facebook and there seems to be a shortage of ticket machines since their award of a lot of contracts this year.
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Interesting, pretty poor show then tbh.
(19 Sep 2020, 4:03 pm)6049 wrote [ -> ]I'm all for offering best value to tax payers, however that also needs to be reflected in value to customers. I know in Washington, GCT fares are slightly cheaper than GNE, however the issue is that most already have bought day tickets on the GNE services. I've heard of a number of occasions where passengers with day tickets have been forced to pay when they should be accepting the tickets. On top of this, every GNE bus is equipped with contactless payment facility. Once the service is secured however and GCT take over, there is no such facility. The NSA's etc offered on board of most GNE services are also a feature which is not replicated. Like or loathe them, they are definitely a helpful feature especially on dark nights.
The buses they have as a rule are slightly newer but is this really a factor which should be considered apart from in terms of Euro emissions standards?
Most importantly in my opinion is the redundancy - if there is an issue on one of the GNE vehicles, a replacement will be sourced and deployed ASAP. I have heard of services being absent all night due to a breakdown although I confess this is hearsay so please don't take that comment as gospel. It's even down to the tracking (as previously mentioned in another reply) and the social media alerts. I know not everyone has access to Facebook or Twitter but at least those who do can check to see whether or not there is an issue en route and can make alternative arrangements if there is a delay or breakdown.
In regards to the breadvans, I believe that on the Washington services, they do not have the required capacity to fulfill the contract requirements. I have lost count of the times that there's been at least one breadvan out on a night. The other day, one of the ADLs was running round with a broken front blind (showing NIS on the rear and side) with 82 printed on a sheet on A4 stuck to the front windscreen.
I'm not trying to knock them, however, I strongly believe that a secured service should be like for like with what is run during the day - I.e. with the required capacity (especially in terms of fulfilling the contract), NSA's would be nice but not essential. However, most importantly in the current climate there should be the facility to pay by contactless.
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Yeah I understand your points on contactless but with the points about the ticketing then really it's GNE you need to blame here rather than GCT - at the end of the day they're the ones who don't want to run the service and let it go out for tendering, they could easily run it if they wanted.
In terms of the rest of it tbf it's Nexus that needs to be blamed here more than anything. The tendering system is a badly done and doesn't work. It's stupid the way they do it in short timeframes with no guarentee your going to get any work in the next tendering and it's something which realistically needs changing imo. You'd probably see a much better service and more buses spare so you don't have the issues with wrong allocations and buses in service with a broken NSA but it's rather difficult from GCT point of view if their contacts are only a year / 2 year and then it's roulette again and if they fail miserably then they've got buses sitting around doing nothing. The way the contracts are done also give no motivation at all for the operator (whoever it is) to give a good service it's more about checking boxes since there's no liability and no motivation to grow the services as it makes no difference to them.
I'd like to see them work with the operators who run the services ie the Washington services in ways to work together to create a way in which they can run without the use of tendering but without paying through the odds. Surely it would be cheaper for Nexus to work with say GNE on a way to make the buses running ie via a subsidy with the aim of trying to make them profitable / decreasing it over time in a similar way that Northumberland CC and Durham CC do it. Even the longer contracts work better in Durham ie the park and ride and cathedral buses which are all well ran services in the main with new buses etc. Then to be fair it would be nice to see Nexus trial some form of DRT service to replace the likes of the W1, W2, W3, 59 etc with Gateshead Taxis as they have the vehicles which would be perfect for it and DRT and Taxi's aren't exactly a long way apart in terms of how they run so they have the callers etc already.
(19 Sep 2020, 3:35 pm)citaro5284 wrote [ -> ]Quality needs to be quantified more than just vehicles thou imo. You could argue that Nexus should be mandating others things in their contracts like contactless payments and real time information when dishing out of their tenders.
My local routes are ran by Arriva Blyth, and their app (until recently) was a god send. Not having to wait at a bus stop wondering if the bus was going to arrive is a thing of the past and how many people now a days carries much money around with them. I do not think I have paid anything in cash for about 3 to 4 month now.
We are in 2020 now, and both the things mentioned should be just standard, unfortunately for passengers of routes operated by GCT, they just dont have it - which is a shame, but this is also where Nexus need to step up to the plate.
I think the question needs to be asked about GCT and why they haven't grabbed all of the funding the bigger boys have and implemented the avl, contactless technology etc. It's been sitting there for long enough and allowed the bigger boys the unique position of having it as a marketing tool.
It's not as if the bigger boys have anything unique other than a team of people who have successfully applied for dft funding.
There's a deadline approaching for the Bus Open Data Service (unless it's been changed due to covid). Maybe we will see GCT have the same equipment as others over the next few months?
(19 Sep 2020, 4:52 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I think the question needs to be asked about GCT and why they haven't grabbed all of the funding the bigger boys have and implemented the avl, contactless technology etc. It's been sitting there for long enough and allowed the bigger boys the unique position of having it as a marketing tool.
It's not as if the bigger boys have anything unique other than a team of people who have successfully applied for dft funding.
There's a deadline approaching for the Bus Open Data Service (unless it's been changed due to covid). Maybe we will see GCT have the same equipment as others over the next few months?
NESTI supported smart ticketing machines for smaller operators - GCT is specifically mentioned in this article:
https://www.nesti.org.uk/nesti-news/succ...-day-event
But from what I've understood previously, the vast majority of on board technology - AVL, Plug (or USB) sockets, WiFi, etc, has been at operators own expense. According to the fleet list, GNE for example have 480 out of 686 buses fitted with free WiFi. Even if the installation of that was supported by public money, I very much doubt the ongoing cost of providing the service is. Even if each bus used 10GB of data a month on average, that's 4.8TB of data they're getting billed for.
Open data deadlines are the end of the year / early January -
https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...ta-service
Why do GCT seem to use buses which shouldnt be on road. 3 days last week i saw a e200 with no working front destination and a breadvan hasnt worked for months
(19 Sep 2020, 6:24 pm)Adrian wrote [ -> ]NESTI supported smart ticketing machines for smaller operators - GCT is specifically mentioned in this article: https://www.nesti.org.uk/nesti-news/succ...-day-event
But from what I've understood previously, the vast majority of on board technology - AVL, Plug (or USB) sockets, WiFi, etc, has been at operators own expense. According to the fleet list, GNE for example have 480 out of 686 buses fitted with free WiFi. Even if the installation of that was supported by public money, I very much doubt the ongoing cost of providing the service is. Even if each bus used 10GB of data a month on average, that's 4.8TB of data they're getting billed for.
Open data deadlines are the end of the year / early January - https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...ta-service
I've shared links on here in the past and will try and find them again. But they show the funding allocated to operators for on-board enhancements such as WiFi or AVL.
The open data service being a result of the AVL roll-out/funding.
Service 335 now accepts Contactless payment, with the new machines only being used on E200's that are allocated to 335. The other 'new' machines have also been contactless enabled, and contactless payment is now accepted on any service that has a new machine, but ONLY service 335 is guaranteed to have Contactless.
(06 Oct 2020, 7:29 pm)park5354 wrote [ -> ]Service 335 now accepts Contactless payment, with the new machines only being used on E200's that are allocated to 335. The other 'new' machines have also been contactless enabled, and contactless payment is now accepted on any service that has a new machine, but ONLY service 335 is guaranteed to have Contactless.
Noticed the 19plate Streetlite allocated to 516 also has a new contactless machine now.
I'm off on annual leave this week, so just looking at updating our fleet lists. I was wondering if anyone was able to confirm any updates?
Excluding double-decks, the latest list I have is:
Bluebirds:
- YX61BYK
- YX61BJO
- YX61BJU - MOT expired 2 January 2020
- YX12CHN - MOT expired 15 September 2020
- YT63TNX
- SF14HAA - MOT expired 4 October 2020
- SF14HAE - withdrawn, fire damage (MOT expired 5 September 2020).
- SF14HAO - MOT expired 1 October 2020
- SF65ARO
- SJ17ZCU
- SJ17ZCV
- SJ17ZCX - MOT expired 6 October 2020
- BF18YRW
- BF18YRX
- SJ18USE
- SJ18UTG
- SG19HOA
- SJ19PNK
- SJ19PGE - from a photo on Facebook suggests this vehicle is now a spare parts donor?
- SJ19PGF
Sprinters:
- LN20OPK
- LN20OPL
- LN20OPM
- LN20OPO
Solos:
- YJ64DYS
- YJ64DYT
- YJ64DTU
- YJ64DYV
- YJ64DYW
- YJ18DLE
- YJ18DLF
Streetlites:
- SL16YPE - MOT expired 18 August 2020, but photos on Facebook show the vehicle in service on 20 August, 27 August and 3 September 2020 - attached is the example uploaded by Ian Hardie on the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group, showing the vehicle in service on 3 September 2020?
- SK67FMY
- SK19EYH
ADL Enviro 200s:
- YX20OCF
- YX20OCG
- YX20OCH
- YX20OCJ
- YX20OCK
- YX20OCL
- YX20OCM
- YX20OCN
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attachment=9590]
(13 Oct 2020, 12:19 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Streetlites:- SL16YPE - MOT expired 18 August 2020, but photos on Facebook show the vehicle in service on 20 August, 27 August and 3 September 2020 - attached is the example uploaded by Ian Hardie on the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group, showing the vehicle in service on 3 September 2020?
At the time it was in service, I'd have given them them the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the delay in the MOT being updated online, but with it still showing as expired it looks a bit dodgy.
There's also photos on Flickr of it being in service on the 8th, 15th and 29th September
(13 Oct 2020, 4:39 pm)busmanT wrote [ -> ]I suspect that it's all complicated by MOT extensions granted due to COVID-19 - it was due an MOT in May, extended for 3 months - perhaps they think it's 6 months (or even 12 months), or DVSA could be wrong, given the circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/mot-for-hgv-buses-and-trailers
https://www.gov.uk/mot-for-hgv-buses-and-trailers
My car's MOT was extended, in the same way in which buses have had their MOTs extended, and their website has been updated to reflect my new expiry date (next month).
(13 Oct 2020, 4:47 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]My car's MOT was extended, in the same way in which buses have had their MOTs extended, and their website has been updated to reflect my new expiry date (next month).
I suspect that they (GCT) are "confused"!
(13 Oct 2020, 4:51 pm)busmanT wrote [ -> ]I suspect that they (GCT) are "confused"!
Knowing GCT, they probably had it timetabled to go in, but never bothered running it
ZCX & UTG are vor due to gearbox failure, as is ZCU or V
PGE is back in service
CHN & BJU are long term vor, due to engine failure (Not on GCT premises at present)
BJO and FRZ are vor
(13 Oct 2020, 5:46 pm)park5354 wrote [ -> ]ZCX & UTG are vor due to gearbox failure, as is ZCU or V
PGE is back in service
CHN & BJU are long term vor, due to engine failure (Not on GCT premises at present)
BJO and FRZ are vor
Ouch! With a combined PVR of around 32(??) excluding schools and shoppers services, and just 42 buses allocated if that fleet list is correct, it must be incredibly tough to meet PVR at the moment (especially if the others which I noted as having expired MOTs aren't currently in service).
Seemingly a red 16-seat minibus operating service R1 today, nice to see the 14:13 23 departing the Galleries a fair few minutes early as well.
Seen an e200 on 32a today instead of breadvan
![[Image: 50417405996_1b71ffbf3c.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50417405996_1b71ffbf3c.jpg)
Gateshead Central Taxis Streetlight SL16 YPE seen here on Sunday service 42A by Micheal Parker, on Flickr![[Image: 46729616925_d417a614d1.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46729616925_d417a614d1.jpg)
Gateshead Taxis SL16 YPE by kian nesworthy, on Flickr![[Image: 50497922728_94e517b499.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50497922728_94e517b499.jpg)
Taxis by thomasbooth030705, on Flickr![[Image: 50498660791_fed805a835.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50498660791_fed805a835.jpg)
Gateshead Central Taxis Fiat Bluebirds SJ18 USE And SG19 HOA Seen At Blaydon While Changing Buses To Work R4 by thomasbooth030705, on Flickr![[Image: 50498817812_711955a973.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50498817812_711955a973.jpg)
Gateshead Central Taxis Mercedes Strava LN20 OPO Seen Here At Blaydon While Making A Rare Appearance On The R3 To Rowalnds Gill by thomasbooth030705, on Flickr