(14 Aug 2021, 9:20 pm)Dan Is it really?

For every comment that I see that says buses should go back through the estates again, I see others that say the reason why they don’t use the bus is because they’re too slow.

There’s no way the network can cater for everyone’s preferences, clearly.


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(14 Aug 2021, 10:04 pm)Ambassador it’s probably not in a simple term no. GNE and the others really need to focus on getting the basics right. It doesn’t help that nexus and whatever bunch Cllr Gannon heads up are so limited in their thinking and approach. The public transport network in the north east and particularly Tyne and Wear is woefully fragmented and with that lot in charge it won’t change.

(14 Aug 2021, 9:14 pm)ASX_Terranova Best way to reverse passenger decline is to put services back into the estates, rather than just the village centres or Main Roads. I can remember the GNE Metroriders weaving through Washington.

(15 Aug 2021, 10:05 am)RobinHood What needs to happen is for every local authority in the region to actually put in place bus priority measures that make a significant dent into current journey times. A 100m stretch of bus lane here and there really isnt going to cut it. If the bus was reliable, fast and dependable - most people wouldn't really care about the Wifi/Next Stop/Livery etc. They would choose the bus due to speed and access.

Unfortunately, none of local authorities have a backbone to do this as they are too scared to lose the political vote that comes from the car owner. Lets hope the National Bus Strategy calls them out on it, as I understand it, the biggest and boldest ideas are most likely to be funded first (so they cannot claim money will be an issue).

Another issue for me are Clean Air Zones. Why do buses need to be Euro 6 but cars don't? Makes no sense. The bus operators should be incentivised to upgrade (better BSOG rates etc) but the car should be simply banned from core areas of the city (generally speaking, appreciate the numerous variables at play).

(15 Aug 2021, 10:27 am)Driver9*** That'll never happen again, the operator would have to run 50% more buses just to pick up 20% extra passengers. 

When I started at Arriva they had numerous minibuses plowing through estates whilst the big buses that went past the outskirts of said estates were carrying fresh air, the penny finally dropped at the silliness of doing this around about 2010ish........

(15 Aug 2021, 10:41 am)Andreos1 You can stick as many bus lanes and priority measures as you want. Unless the bus goes where the people are going, bus lanes are pretty much pointless.
Banning cars from city centres, isn't going to do anything other than encourage car users to go elsewhere.

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Were those minibuses taking the residents of the estates to places the residents needed to go? Or where the operators thought they wanted to be.

Having a minibus go from an estate to Whitley Bay, when residents are travelling to drop the kids off and then heading in the opposite direction, to get to work - was never the brightest idea.

(15 Aug 2021, 10:53 am)Driver9*** Mostly pensioners into the town centre for their bread and milk.

(15 Aug 2021, 10:41 am)Andreos1 You can stick as many bus lanes and priority measures as you want. Unless the bus goes where the people are going, bus lanes are pretty much pointless.

(15 Aug 2021, 12:40 pm)MurdnunoC Bus lanes are pretty pointless when a council changes the road layout to such an extent where it becomes more hassle for a bus to use the bus lane rather than the roads the bus lane is meant to avoid.

Gateshead Council, in particular, must be singled out for this. The idea of the Centrelink was to allow the X66 to run traffic-free from the Teams into the centre of Gateshead. Now, with the closure of Hills Street and the bottom of West Street to buses, and the multitude of traffic lights which stand in the way between the bottom of Prince Consort Road and Pipewellgate, why would any driver driving the X66 use Centrelink towards the Metrocentre? It's easier and quicker to use Askew Road. It's slightly better heading into Gateshead, I guess, but it used to be a lot easier when buses coming from the direction of the High Level Bridge were allowed to use West Street and filter into the Interchange from Prince Consort Road. As an alleged bus priority measure, it's an absolute mess as it stands now.

Whenever you see council chiefs such as Martin Gannon (or whomever) standing with directors of bus companies such as Martijn Gilbert (or whomever) announcing the latest initiative to encourage people to use public transport, it's pretty hard to take whatever they say seriously as we've heard it all before. It always comes across as a cynical publicity stunt to raise the public profile of each without anyone actually committing or delivering anything of note. It doesn't convince me, it probably won't convince anyone else either.

(15 Aug 2021, 1:43 pm)Andreos1 These photoshoots might allow for self-congratulatory back pats, but like you - they don't convince me either.

(17 Aug 2021, 3:48 pm)MurdnunoC Transport for the North boss calls for debate on raising cost of driving

Obviously, as a car user, I should declare an interest in opposing such a measure, but I don't think the solution as to how you might encourage people to use public transport lies in pricing motorists off the road in an attempt to force them to switch. For me, the choice should remain with the user otherwise cars are destined to become the preserve of the rich and powerful. Obviously there is a ecological argument to be had against motor-vehicles powered by fossil fuels but what happens if (or when) the majority of motor-vehicles are powered by electricity or other means. Is it fair to penalise motorists if that ever becomes the case?

Thoughts?

(17 Aug 2021, 3:48 pm)MurdnunoC Transport for the North boss calls for debate on raising cost of driving

Obviously, as a car user, I should declare an interest in opposing such a measure, but I don't think the solution as to how you might encourage people to use public transport lies in pricing motorists off the road in an attempt to force them to switch. For me, the choice should remain with the user otherwise cars are destined to become the preserve of the rich and powerful. Obviously there is a ecological argument to be had against motor-vehicles powered by fossil fuels but what happens if (or when) the majority of motor-vehicles are powered by electricity or other means. Is it fair to penalise motorists if that ever becomes the case?

Thoughts?

(17 Aug 2021, 7:03 pm)ASX_Terranova You can't force people out of their cars but I think electric cars will fry the National Grid. So if people want to keep using items such as TV's, Computers, etc... they might have to.

(17 Aug 2021, 3:48 pm)MurdnunoC Transport for the North boss calls for debate on raising cost of driving

Obviously, as a car user, I should declare an interest in opposing such a measure, but I don't think the solution as to how you might encourage people to use public transport lies in pricing motorists off the road in an attempt to force them to switch. For me, the choice should remain with the user otherwise cars are destined to become the preserve of the rich and powerful. Obviously there is a ecological argument to be had against motor-vehicles powered by fossil fuels but what happens if (or when) the majority of motor-vehicles are powered by electricity or other means. Is it fair to penalise motorists if that ever becomes the case?

Thoughts?

(17 Aug 2021, 7:03 pm)ASX_Terranova You can't force people out of their cars but I think electric cars will fry the National Grid. So if people want to keep using items such as TV's, Computers, etc... they might have to.

(18 Aug 2021, 9:31 am)MurdnunoC Having just purchased a new (used) car, an electric vehicle was something I briefly considered. However the costs outweigh the benefits at present and until there's significant investment in the overall infrastructure combined with a reduction of the initial outlay (for me, personally, the car and the driveway I'll need to install a charging point), I feel owning an electric vehicle will be outside of the financial reach of many.

Battery technology seems to be improving on electric vehicles which means that other prohibitive factor, range anxiety, will become less over time. The cost of charging isn't too bad at present and, providing you have a driveway and charging point at home, it can pretty cheap overall on selective tarriffs as Streetdeckfan points out above.

(18 Aug 2021, 11:18 am)Ambassador I've just purchased one through work and in honesty I did it for the massive tax write off that accompanies it with Leaseplan.

Got the charging point installed for £400 - again through a work referral though I've sent it for £449 without. Not really noticing much difference in electric costs, certainly cheaper than filling up in Costco where I used to go.

• drive to Northumberland Park | 20 minutes | £2.40 in diesel (round-trip)
  
• park, walk and wait for the Metro | average 5-10 minutes | £1.20 parking fee
  
• take the Metro to Haymarket | 17 minutes | £3.75 return with Pop PAYG
  total journey time 42-47 minutes, total cost £7.35, two people (sharing cost of fuel and parking, add £3.75 Metro ticket) £5.55 per person
  

• walk to bus stop and wait for X21 | 5 minutes
  
• take the X21 to Haymarket | 55 minutes | £7.50 return
  total journey time 60 minutes, total cost £7.50, two people (sharing cost with duo ticket) £7.25 per person
  

• drive to St James' MSCP | average 30-35 minutes | £3.64 in diesel (round-trip)
  
• find a parking space and pay for parking | 5 minutes | £0.80 per hour (£4.00 for 5 hours)
  
• walk to Haymarket | 10 minutes
  total journey time 45-50 minutes, total cost £7.64, two people (sharing cost) £3.82 per person