All posts in the topic Ticket to ride? Bus issues with Stagecoach (Short link)
Summary
- There are 10 posts — by 6 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Noam Bleicher at Oct 13 11:48 UTC
David Rundle and I have a meeting with Martin Sutton of Stagecoach on Wednesday
evening and we are hoping to raise a number of issues that have been reported
to us by residents in our ward. If you have any specific concerns, please
contact either of us (details are on our website) or post a message up on the
Forum - we'll check it beforehand. We have a number of issues reported to us
regarding the number 10 service including change of route from Headley Way to
Osler Road, whether some services should turn round at Cowley Centre, safety of
cyclists and other road users in Osler Road and the lack of space for queuing
at the Windmill Road bus stop (the latter is not an easy problem to solve); we
also have issues concerning the frequency of Brookes buses at weekends and in
vacation, the possible issue of joint-provider scholars' tickets, the
resurrection of a through service from Headington to Summertown, a possible
switch of designated taxi and bus spaces outside Iceland and more.. All views
welcomed, including positive comments - I know some people have said how
pleased they are with the buggy-friendly and disabled-friendly service provided
by Stagecoach and we will make sure to mention this!
My main issue with the buses (both Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus
Company) is the price of the tickets. I would like to walk into
Oxford and get the bus back, but I just cannot bring myself to pay
£1.80 for a single ticket to get me back to Headington from Oxford.
This is an outrageous amount: it is almost £1 per person per mile. It
would be much cheaper for people to share taxis.
Good work, Ruth.
I hope they listen to you.
A restoration of the Headington-Summertown link would for one thing reduce the
number of peole who have to travel through the St. Clements bottleneck to get
there the long way, using two buses and a walk through the centre, which takes
ages.
I still have a copy of the city election leaflet from May this year in which
Laurence Baxter promised that he would "put pressure on the bus companies" to
improve services in this area. If he has taken any steps, I am unaware of them.
He now denies saying this, and tells me that " I made it quite clear during
my election that we couldn't simply force the bus companies to do what we
want,"
Does anyone remember him saying that? Can they produce a leaflet from last May
with that message in it?
We can only try to persuade the bus companies (which are commercial entities)
that there is a demand for changes to their schedules and back it up with
evidence. As ward councillors we would need this evidence to try and convince
the decision makers. Julia could help by explaining how she would use a Quarry
Summertown service.
Risinghurst has no evening or Sunday service which isolates young people and
the elderly with no alternative transport, . We can use the evidence of an
increase in the conversion of family housing into flats in Risinghurst as an
increase in demand for an improved Risinghurst service.
The Bus Users group meets next this Friday at St Columba's Church Hall Alfred
Street at 6pm.The bus companies and the County Council are represented here. I
have in the past used this forum to lobby for improvements as Julia is aware.
Dee Sinclair
Oxford City Council
City Councillor Quarry and Risinghurst Ward
Please could you elucidate which Friday you mean, Dee. Friday 26th September or
Friday 3rd October?
There seems to be a misunderstanding: I never suggested a bus service directly
from Quarry to Summertown, but rather one from central Headington to the
Banbury Road, along the Marston Ferry Road.The loss of previous services which
ran along this route has often been discussed with regret on this forum. To
revive it would be useful to many people for many reasons. A quick route to the
Phoenix cinema for a start! And a way to work for people who live in
Risinghurst and work in Summertown (I only know one personally, and he works at
Oxfam, but there must be many more).
I also grumbled a bit about the 118 service to Quarry being inadequate.
Re Stephanie's complaint about high bus fares, yes they are leaping up, but
Stagecoach now has a type of ticket called a Mega-rider which gives you 12
single journeys for £16, without a time-limit. I think that works out at £1.33
per journey. If you buy it on-line it is ten percent cheaper, which seems to be
£1.20 if my arithmetic is correct.
Something to be cheerful about in a time of doom and gloom?
David and I have opened up a dialogue with Stagecoach about bus services in
Headington and they are going to give further consideration to providing a
through route from Headington to Summertown; this will involve looking at a
number of factors including potential use of the service, the number of buses
that would be required to provide a service of regular enough frequency to be
attractive to customers, and an analysis of something called "average operating
speed". Each bus on the road costs £180K a year to run, this equates to £38
per hour, and the average operating speed of a bus should ideally be between 12
and 18 mph. The average operating speed of the no. 10 has been recorded as low
as 8 mph.
The bus company is currently appealing the sum reimbursed to it by the City
Council for passengers who are travelling with concessionary passes as part of
the National Bus Pass scheme. If the rate of reimbursement is low (and
Stagecoach thinks it is too low compared with rates paid by other authorities
across the UK), there is little incentive for bus companies to extend services
in areas where there is a higher percentage of older passengers who use this
scheme. We found our discussion useful, and it will be good to hold another
meeting when we have been sent passenger statistics for the key routes,
particularly the no. 10 route which is currently running up Osler Road, rather
than Headley Way. We have asked for ‘before and after’ figures with reference
to the introduction of the National Bus Pass scheme.
With regard to Julia's point, the bus companies can change routes and times of
their services at any time, provided they give 56 days notice to the County
Council, and it is within the terms of the contract - although we did discuss
the fact that doing this without public consultation is likely to cause bad
publicity
It's early days in the negotiations yet, and we should not get our hopes up too
high, but the contract for bus services is soon up for renewal so it's a good
time to talk. I shall put a fuller report on the councillors' website as soon
as I get home from work!
The pressing need that we have for a bus connection between Headington and
Summertown is brought home by the situation today, when as a result of many
factors the London Road into central Oxford was completely blocked by a
traffic-jam between 8.30 and 9.30.
This is not just an issue for Stagecoach.
Someone I know set off to take a bus into the city this morning and came back
after half an hour waiting at the bus stop because he said the traffic was just
stationary!
Hundreds and hundreds of vehicles are trying to get through the St Clements
bottleneck which was never designed for heavy traffic. Nothing you do to the
London Road will ever change the latter fact. Of course the ongoing roadworks
and the excessive number of traffic lights do not help the problem.
What is very much needed is an alternative route into the city. There
are many people who work in the central or northern part of Oxford (as I do
myself from time to time) who could save time and fares by using a direct bus
service along Headley Way and the Marston Ferry Road, preferably continuing
from there into the city. Even if a change at the Banbury Road were necessary,
it would still be better than the present situation.
When I talk to bus employees, they seem to be under the impression that the
City Council licences the bus companies and therefore has extensive powers.
When I talk to City Councillors such as Dee Sinclair and Laurence Baxter they
tell me that the bus companies are independent and quite beyond Council control
(except just before election time, when they promise to do something about it).
By the way, may I note that although I am a member of the Bus Users
group they did not notify me about the meeting, and my enquiry on this forum
about the exact date was left unanswered. We need a better-organized group.
On your specific point about who has any "control" the councillors are
right. Under transport regulations bus companies are free to do what
they want and only have to notify councils about intended route changes.
The only time a council has any control is when the route is a
subsidised one, in which case it is the County Council in any case
that has the purse for that. Since there are hundreds of communities
out there without any bus services at all, the queue for subsidy is
usually a great deal longer than the money available.
Money can be taken from big developments in the area - at either end
of the route - so it need not perhaps wait for a Brookes or Hospital
related development if there's something coming up in Summertown that
could be argued was a facility for Headington folk and could justify a
s.106 agreement including some money for a bus service.
But this is not usually terribly sustainable as it usually only covers
a year or so of operation. This was what happened initially to the
number 14 service - it was funded from hospital s.106 payments but
once that ran out and it proved not to be a profitable route the bus
company were perfectly legally allowed to withdraw it.
Anyone who tells you they can get changes to the bus system simply by
virtue of being a councillor is wrong. I too learned that the hard
way. You may have a little more clout when going to see the bus
companies, but it is still only pressure - there's nothing you can do
to force them except through subsidy. It has always been a problem as
far back as I can remember. When I was first on the council I tried
hard to get some changes to the old 22 service (now the 9?) into
Risinghurst, but really, they are for profit companies and that is
their life-blood so they can be difficult to persuade.
But not impossible.
OK I will not raise my hopes.
I will try taking the number 10 bus to the JR and then changing to the number
700 to the Banbury Road and see how it compares in time and cost. Since it's
two different bus companies it will probably not be economical,
Unfortunately there are roadworks in Summertown too right now but just getting
there would something.
Julia Firstly let me apologise for not being informed of the meeting. You have been before, so we should have your contact details. I'll look into it. Secondly, the 700 is operated by RH Transport and the 10 by Stagecoach. Both accept the Plus Pass: http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=75 If you travel regularly, this may be more economical that buying singles. As well as the four brands mentioned in the above link, Plus Pass is valid on Park + Ride, Brookes Bus and night buses. On the latter especially this represents a major saving. The daily version is very expensive but longer-term versions are reasonable compared with the single-operator products. Plus Pass is a well-kept secret and should be much better promoted. I sent Dee a lengthy e-mail this morning which I won't repeat, but in brief the DfT have announced a new round of kick-start funding. I would like to see the County bid for some of this to start an "East Cross Route" at least from Cowley to Water Eaton with possible extensions to Kidlington, BBL and Rose Hill.