Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
But when you throw drivers to the wolves after a certain time it's not exactly surprising they please themselves.
True.
But when you throw drivers to the wolves after a certain time it's not exactly surprising they please themselves.
Sounds to me that YOU should have been the manager!I remember a few years ago having finished my shift, I heard that one of our buses had been involved in an RTC. This would have resulted in the cancellation of all services on that route for the remainder of the day. Control were not bothered about sending out a replacement vehicle and driver but I worked out I had enough driving hours left to be able to run the final service in each direction using another bus which had just come in for fuel and cleaning. I rang up control and informed them of my intention and they agreed, surprising really as the 'above and beyond' attitude was generally frowned upon by management at that time.
In the early 1980s, the Cardiff Bus operated early evening journey from Tredegar was notorious for running early. CB did a later turn but used a National so the driver was presumably keen to get his Fleetline back to depot (and the K-Liners could shift!)
(It was certainly the case a few years ago i believe and assuming it still is) In Scotland, the first and last full route journey of every registered service *must* be run as part of the licence terms and conditions.
But maybe you'd also have punters (loyal customers of the company) who had been waiting an hour for the 33 expecting to use only the daytime fare or a concession pass. They might have been rather miffed to fork out the premium fare for a night bus just because the company didn't make a reasonable effort to run the standard day bus and in future they might not trust the same operator again.This led to an odd situation one night in Edinburgh when the bus operating the last 33 journey from Ferniehill to Baberton broke down and ended up operating just over an hour late and running 5 mins ahead of the first night service N33.
Needless to say, this caused confusion with punters trying to pay night fare on the late running day service.
I don't have any knowledge in such matters, but I find that very hard to believe. It sounds more like something the company management would tell a driver if they claimed they could finish sharp because their vehicle 'was playing up'. In many circumstances the first and last full journeys could be covered by alternative services either from the same or rival operators. The traffic commissioners might not be too impressed but I don't think a blanket licence condition would be appropriate.
But as I say, that's just my own speculation and I don't know anything definitive.
No, but I've had a bus go past me I attempted to flag down, which was a special college run, but there was plenty of space available on the bus from what I could see, it was in the afternoon taking students home from college and listed on the timetable at the stop at which I was stood at. If the service isn't open to the public, why list it on the timetable at a public bus stop?Slightly off topic I know but anyone ever attempted to use a school/college day only service and had an issue with it not running for whatever reason (eg because a driver hasn't operated the full route) or the service has not been running?
A few years ago I had an extended stay in Filton on a Friday evening after a Eurotaxis driver didn't bother to run the full 680 route and took a shortcut missing out the stop where I was stood waiting. Also ended up on there one evening when a driver claimed "We've been told not to go into UWE on an evening if we don't drop anyone off there in the morning". I complained to the company about this pointing out that it isn't unheard of that someone might be traveling one way on it.
Plus on numerous occasions over the last 10 years Traveline has listed that service as running on days when in reality SGS Filton hasn't been open so the service hasn't operated. Back in July I was hoping to ride the service on the last day of the Summer term but after ringing Eurotaxis to check it was running I was told "No and it hasnt run for a fortnight now"!
Anyone else ever heard of this sort of thing happening with a school/college/works service?
No, but I've had a bus go past me I attempted to flag down, which was a special college run, but there was plenty of space available on the bus from what I could see, it was in the afternoon taking students home from college and listed on the timetable at the stop at which I was stood at. If the service isn't open to the public, why list it on the timetable at a public bus stop?
I complained about it at the enquiries desk and just got told "Yeah, they do that sometimes".
There are others - for instance chunks of some National Express services are registered as local bus services for the same reason even though (with some exceptions) nobody really uses them as such.
Slightly off topic I know but anyone ever attempted to use a school/college day only service and had an issue with it not running for whatever reason (eg because a driver hasn't operated the full route) or the service has not been running?
Because BSOG raid, basically (very similar to an ORCATS raid in concept). The services are (or were, I think the criteria may have changed?) only listed as public services in order to claim BSOG, and the operator really has no interest in making them actually usable by the public.
There are others - for instance chunks of some National Express services are registered as local bus services for the same reason even though (with some exceptions) nobody really uses them as such.
I know I might seem like I'm making mountains from molehills regarding issues with buses in my area, but the timetables seem very good at marking journeys that are school day or non school day only workings.That was one of my jobs in the past - making sure that the FDR/BSOG for NatEx was captured. Some routes were quite important for local bus service provision (like the ones that used to run through the Scottish Borders and Northumberland). However, most were rather less crucial like Sheffield to Chesterfield! One route was the Liverpool to North Wales route that, in the summer, was duplicated and naturally, all the dupes were also able to claim the grant.
Variation on a theme. On a Stagecoach Wales day out that started from Chepstow etc. I had reached Merthyr and then headed to Brecon on a late running service. Missed the X43 but the timetable showed the next journey to Abergavenny and (at the same time), a partial duplicate operating Schooldays only. So I waited and the partial dupe (to Talybont?) turned up but no bus to Aber.
I twigged that there was something up and yes, subsequently discovered that the timetable in Brecon Interchange was missing a "Non Schooldays" code over the journey I was looking for! So it was another hour to wait and to Aber and then paying £60 for a taxi to Chepstow to reclaim the car. Ouch!
I know I might seem like I'm making mountains from molehills regarding issues with buses in my area, but the timetables seem very good at marking journeys that are school day or non school day only workings.