Mr Manager
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Competition heats up between Transdev and Connexions
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Fisherman80
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Ive noticed that the CityZap buses are never full too, so it is indeed a strange route for new buses.Surely that can’t be right as the current fleet is always breaking down and, when they do run, they’re nearly empty
I think the most amount of passenger's getting off at Leeds maybe 15.....but most of the time its never more than 10.
Just an observation.
darloscott
Member
I don’t think they have much choice with the upcoming emissions regulations in both cities.
Fisherman80
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I understand that Darlo but brand new buses for a route which hardly carries any passengers is a big investment.
As I said its just my observation during the daytime when I have been over to Leeds that there never seems to be many passengers using Cityzap.
I know when it leaves the bus station it doesn't pick up passengers elsewhere in Leeds, unlike the X6,which can leave the bus station with a few passengers onboard,but after 2 or 3 stops in Leeds city centre,its usually got a healthy amount of passengers onboard.
cnjb8
Established Member
Sorry if this is further up the thread. Why did Transdev let go of a lot of Versa's and Eclipse's in 2015. Seems odd considering they have a lot of Renown's.
Im sure they know what they are doing. The figures must stack up otherwise the route wouldn't have lasted.
WY Bus Spotter
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Cityzap is normally full with commuters on a morning and evening (packed usually). Then it has a good steady flow of concessionarys and daytrippers through the day.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Exactly. If Cityzap wasn’t making the required money through passenger growth, then it wouldn’t justify new vehicles to meet LEZ requirements.
There were a lot more than 15 on the Zap I caught from York to Leeds last Monday, roughly twenty past 4 from Dringhouses Church. I'd say there were around 15 on the top deck and 10 -15 downstairs. Whenever I catch them they seem to be reasonably loaded towards Leeds, especially around York College kicking out time.
Fire in Harrogate this morning at a building smack bang opposite the bus station (No, Connexions didn't set the Transdev office on fire although it was very near that particular unit!) so lots of diversions in place as the bus station was closed off as a precaution
Also, Connexions now seem to have the contactless facility on board their buses
Also, Connexions now seem to have the contactless facility on board their buses
All the electrics were quickly shuffled back to Starbeck depot and whatever has been available otherwise has been in service to the extent that one afternoon school service, think it the V36 given where it was, was worked by a 36 Gemini, for which its display was obviously not programmed as it had The Harrogate Bus Company on it. Closure is apparently until 8pm tonight.
Normailty did return at 8 last night, Gemini 3621 having the honour of being the first bus into the reopened bus station although the evening pair of electric duties remained operated by B7RLEs.
Realised today that Connexions have not bothered to reprogram their displays following the rerouting of the X1 so that it does exactly the same loop in Knaresborough as Transdevs 1A and consequently the display still states Knaresborough then Aspin then St James, Aspin now being served after St James and a potential long timing wait their.
Realised today that Connexions have not bothered to reprogram their displays following the rerouting of the X1 so that it does exactly the same loop in Knaresborough as Transdevs 1A and consequently the display still states Knaresborough then Aspin then St James, Aspin now being served after St James and a potential long timing wait their.
omnicity4659
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Transdev lease a lot of vehicles I believe, whereas the likes of the Renowns and older stock are owned wholly by Blazefield. I could be wrong though.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Because it’s patently not true or they’d not be putting new vehicles on it
Believe you’re right which is why some vehicles are disposed of early. Lease is much more common for the Transdev business globally.
cnjb8
Established Member
Thank you for the info. I thought no one was going to reply
You're allowed to. Have you been banned or had your comments deleted?
You can, however, expect other people to post their experiences.
The Geminis used on Cityzap are owned as are all other pre c.2006 vehicles new to Blazefield. Since then vehicles have in the majority been leased. Consequently the current costs of the Cityzap are pretty low as vehicle costs are simply that of maintenance. There is a fare increase from Sunday partly on grounds of investment in buses (read that as the Streetdecks) that only affects the rover tickets (Gold and Daytripper Plus) that are available for use on Cityzap and Coastliner. The Daytripper Plus going up 50p to £17.50 (and no longer valid on York CitySightseeing buses), Gold week by £1 to £38 and the Gold month by £10 to £120.
As you say the buses bought by Blazefield are cheap to operate, but Transdev's fares are not bargain basement. They've still got a lot of old Blazefield or Rosso vehicles - are we to expect extra fare rises for every new order for the next few years?
Stan Drews
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Most of the larger operators, tend to stick with annual increases for fares (usually based around budget assumptions), although some do different tickets at different times of the year, rather than everything going up all on one date. I think this is so that the ‘bad news’ can be countered with ‘good news’ about other prices staying the same.
RustySpoons
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The last fare increase in Lancashire didn't go down too well, especially in Burnley where 2001 era B10s replaced 2 year old Streetlites on local services. Sticking private plates on them apparently made folk think they were brand new... People aren't that easily fooled!
Even now people still complain about them being too big for the routes they're operating on, and to be fair to them they aren't wrong.
Largely agree - they have left alone the fares that I suspect most sales are of and simply cut back the extent of savings a rover/long period ticket offers. Having said that there are a number of routes on which a Gold ticket is the only one available so for example anyone commuting between any of the villages on the 24 route and Harrogate will be hit for a extra quid a week, or tenner a month
Fisherman80
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They were just my observations dazzler. Its roughly between 10am and 3pm during the week when I travel through Leeds bus station.
Perhaps I am missing seeing these buses full of passengers but as I've mentioned before I never see many onboard the CityZap buses.
It may indeed be different at peak times with healthy loading but I'm not around the area at that time.
A number of the now 10 minute interval 36s also appear lightly loaded but the increased service has apparently increased custom overall and therein lies the issue with the Cityzap; a passenger on well loaded journeys in one direction may in the opposing direction travel on a bus with little custom but if that working was withdrawn the passenger may not travel at all, or use the train instead.
Harrogate Bus Station is closed on Sunday due to the main road alongside being resurfaced; services terminating on nearby streets and not as wide spread as the shop fire incident , but I would expect the Volvo Electrics will once again have the day off. A lot of stops around the town centre will also not be served.
This seems rather a large disadvantage of electric buses which need to charge often - if the future is a wholly electric fleet, will the bus service to the whole area be cancelled for the day if anything prevents them reaching the bus station?
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
With a fully electric fleet, I’d imagine that they would be placing other charging points at strategic locations. Charging technology has come a long way in recent years.
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