(04 Aug 2015, 7:13 pm)mb134 wrote I'm sure they would have buses spare, but what about the following situation:
Hybrid running 15 minutes late on a 308, Blyth send out a Gemini,
The Hybrid arrives in Blyth and an inbound X11 is running late, now this is going to be a journey that will arrive in Newcastle around 5, peak time. Now the only other buses spare are a Pulsar, and a few MPD's, what do they do?
You'd send out the Hybrid, now obviously that is a very select set of circumstances, and there obviously are occasions when that doesn't happen.
One question, the funding Arriva got for the Hybrids, why is it specifically for the 308? Sorry if the reasoning is obvious, but surely they would be encouraged to use them as often as possible (Sunday for example), in favour of a generic bus that will be worse for the environment?
That would fall under "extreme circumstances", but you see these buses off route regardless of day or time...
The bidding guidance for the Green Bus Fund states:
"Bidders must say how and where they intend to use the buses in order to achieve the greatest environmental benefits, including air quality objectives. This might include, for example, whether the buses will run on rural, urban or combined routes, how many kilometres the buses will run on average each month etc. Bidders should give details of how these buses will fit into wider environmental plans and strategies, such as air quality action plans. They should also include any longer term plans (i.e. after the first three years of operation) for the use of the low carbon emission buses purchased under this fund, and whether they have plans to buy more low carbon emission buses in the future."
So; when Arriva Northumbria was awarded with a grant of £517,350, it was based on the ten vehicles being allocated to service 308, between Blyth and Newcastle. Service 308 is a completely different style of route to services X10/X11, for example, and one could argue that perhaps the funding would not have been awarded on this basis if it were for the X10/X11 services opposed to the 308...