ArrivaClick Watford operation is to close

[duncombec]

The Watford Click service will cease on 31st December:

Arriva Bus

arrivabus.co.uk

ArrivaClick Watford closure​

From 31st December the ArrivaClick Watford service will be closed.

Arriva invested in ArrivaClick, a joint venture with Watford Borough Council, as a way of developing an additional public transport choice in the area.
It has attracted passengers, but sadly, not at the level needed to ensure it can be cost-effective for us as a business. Unfortunately, we had to take the very difficult decision to close the service.
Our aim is and always has been to make public transport the best environmentally-sustainable option for everyone and we do have an extensive bus network in and around Watford, so our customers can still rely on our buses to get around.
[...]

 

[greenline712]

The Watford Click service will cease on 31st December:

Arriva Bus

arrivabus.co.uk

About time .... it has been a monumental misuse of money ... loadings have been minimal and whenever I see them they're waiting for work.

£4 million that could have revitalised bus services in Watford ... simply wasted.

 

[pm2304877]

Minibus operations have ALWAYS lost money .Arriva should have known that from events of the late 1980s. A depressing time when short life breadvans with windows were seen as the future!

 

[Man of Kent]

Minibus operations have ALWAYS lost money .Arriva should have known that from events of the late 1980s. A depressing time when short life breadvans with windows were seen as the future!

Transit Holdings, the Harry Blundred-led company that owned Bayline, Devon General, Thames Transit and Dockland Minibuses, was rather a profitable minibus operator. almost to the exclusion of all other vehicle types. Companies House accounts for the mid 1990s confirm this.

 

[Kite159]

Another DRT scheme bites the dust?

 

[pm2304877]

Yes but high frequency minibuses no longer run in Devon. And apart from a preserved example the minibus era was only short term. Larger buses are the better investment
long term.
Bus Vannin has a large minibus fleet but these are state owned and many are used as patient transport on the Isle Of Man and not regular DRT routes exclusively, other than in the Northern villages and Ramsey . But even these will need replacement before 2030.

 

[GusB]

Does anyone have any further comments on the actual thread topic, which is the cessation of the Arriva operation mentioned in post #1?

 

[507021]

About time .... it has been a monumental misuse of money ... loadings have been minimal and whenever I see them they're waiting for work.

£4 million that could have revitalised bus services in Watford ... simply wasted.

I've visited Watford twice this year and didn't see a Click minibus on either occasion, which was slightly disappointing. That said, the operation in Liverpool fared worse, withdrawn during the first lockdown after less than two years. Most of the 25 rather expensive minibuses were transferred out (some to Watford, funnily enough) or sold altogether, with only four remaining for the 201 (Speke-Royal Hospital) and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre shuttle.

 

[SSmith2009]

About time .... it has been a monumental misuse of money ... loadings have been minimal and whenever I see them they're waiting for work.

£4 million that could have revitalised bus services in Watford ... simply wasted.

Same with the Leicester services a waste of money yet Vectare have replaced it with the novus network of fixed services which are being increased in January due to demand.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Minibus operations have ALWAYS lost money .Arriva should have known that from events of the late 1980s. A depressing time when short life breadvans with windows were seen as the future!

That is clearly incorrect. There are still places where you'll see Optare Solos trundling around on local services. However, the whole cost base of minibus operations has changed. In a number of firms, you had minibus rotas where drivers were paid 20-25% less. That doesn't happen and when you then overlay increased costs in other areas plus driver shortages plus other factors, then it's no wonder that the number of minibuses in regular commercial service has reduced.

However, Arriva Click and other DRT schemes are a different kettle of fish. The whole idea is that you can have resources that can be deployed and volumes aggregated to achieve efficiencies. Yet the load factor is, not surprisingly, never great enough to get anywhere near a sustainable level. An industry pal of mine (not with Arriva, I add) is involved in another DRT scheme with several vehicles so deployed. The farebox revenue isn't enough to pay for the two people managing the operation, let alone the several drivers and vehicles that are utilised.

As @greenline712 has said, there is money being spent on schemes such as £4m in Watford that could be used to improve conventional services.

 

[bussnapperwm]

When I used it a couple of years ago in Watford, out of 6 trips on it, only 1 had another passenger that wasn't the person I had gone to Watford with

 

[A S Leib]

There might be places this sort of service is suited for, but for a local authority which one can cross in two and a half hours by foot on the longer axis conventional bus services would probably be better.