Cheshire East council propose 43% reduction in bus subsides

[pemma]

That would be a better use of the time and money. And the service to Wilmslow takes about half an hour so you could turn it round at Wilmslow train station. Do a full circuit and there's your hour.

The 88 service is timetabled to take 31 minutes from Knutsford Bus Station to Wilmslow Bank Square via Wilmslow Station. That's quite a generous timing and usually the buses take 3-4 minutes less than that. In the evenings when there's less traffic you could probably do something like:
Knutsford Bus Station: 19:15
Longridge: 19:22
Mobberley Town Lane: 19:26
Wilmslow Station: 19:37
Wilmslow Bank Square: 19:39

It wouldn't need to go to the station twice, it could pick up any Knutsford bound passengers at the station before it goes to Bank Square.

 

[LOL The Irony]

The 88 service is timetabled to take 31 minutes from Knutsford Bus Station to Wilmslow Bank Square via Wilmslow Station. That's quite a generous timing and usually the buses take 3-4 minutes less than that. In the evenings when there's less traffic you could probably do something like:
Knutsford Bus Station: 19:15
Longridge: 19:22
Mobberley Town Lane: 19:26
Wilmslow Station: 19:37
Wilmslow Bank Square: 19:39

It wouldn't need to go to the station twice, it could pick up any Knutsford bound passengers at the station before it goes to Bank Square.

Miss the bus station entirely? Isn't the shelters at the station enough?

 

[LOL The Irony]

Let's just call it arriving train station XX:40 and then leaves XX:45
So return leg:
Wimslow Station XX:45
Mobberly Town Lane: XX:56
Shaw Heath Post Office XX:05
Knutsford Bus Station XX:10

Only problem is that this still misses out the lesuire center & academy

 

[pemma]

Miss the bus station entirely? Isn't the shelters at the station enough?

If the bus does Knutsford-Wilmslow Station-Wilmslow Bank Square-Knutsford then it doesn't need to go back to the station. The driver could change the destination display on arrival at the station to say Knutsford, then anyone who wants to travel from Knutsford to the station can alight at the same time as anyone who wants to travel to the station can board, working in the same way the 200 route works now.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Ah never saw it like that.

 

[turboslug]

Unfortunately the cuts to bus services been approved

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-41905552

All tendered & most evening services gone

 

[pemma]

The document referred to on the previous page said Cheshire East did not consider any extra Macclesfield-Knutsford journeys over what was proposed in the consultation, despite objections from the public and local businesses, as in their opinion it wouldn't increase passenger numbers. In response to that someone produced evidence that enhancing the frequency to hourly could bring in up to £57,000 extra per annum in revenue based on the fares remaining the same as they are now (which I think is more than the annual subsidy for the 27 route) which included some evidence which only came to light after the consultation closed - Cheshire East's response was "Too late - the consultation has closed."

 

[Deafdoggie]

Unfortunately the cuts to bus services been approved

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-41905552

All tendered & most evening services gone

Not quite. All tendered SUNDAY services and most TENDERED evening services gone, is the correct version.

 

[pemma]

Could any of the soon to be withdrawn service or cutback services be commercially viable to operate, possibly by reducing the frequency or having the service start later or finish earlier?

The 300 Saturday daytime subsidy is quite low and it did used to be commercial before D&G decided it was making a small loss. Could maybe a service operating 09:45-16:15 instead of 08:45-17:45 be viable?

The 27, 99 and 130 (Su and BH) all ran commercially under GHA Coaches but I'm not convinced they made profits overall as I think GHA may have been more interested in being territorial than making profits.

 

[ag51ruk]

Could any of the soon to be withdrawn service or cutback services be commercially viable to operate, possibly by reducing the frequency or having the service start later or finish earlier?

The 300 Saturday daytime subsidy is quite low and it did used to be commercial before D&G decided it was making a small loss. Could maybe a service operating 09:45-16:15 instead of 08:45-17:45 be viable?

The 27, 99 and 130 (Su and BH) all ran commercially under GHA Coaches but I'm not convinced they made profits overall as I think GHA may have been more interested in being territorial than making profits.

I had hopes that D&G might have a go at commercially running some services currently subsidised, but assume that the council or TSS would have discussed that with them before announcing the proposals?

For example, the subsidised diverted journeys on the 85 to Eagle Bridge Medical Centre would otherwise just run along West Street, only serving three additional stops already served by other buses, so I would have thought that could have been commercially viable. Instead, they are being withdrawn so what is currently the 42 is being diverted to serve that section and leaving some roads with no buses at all.

 

[pemma]

I had hopes that D&G might have a go at commercially running some services currently subsidised, but assume that the council or TSS would have discussed that with them before announcing the proposals?

For example, the subsidised diverted journeys on the 85 to Eagle Bridge Medical Centre would otherwise just run along West Street, only serving three additional stops already served by other buses, so I would have thought that could have been commercially viable. Instead, they are being withdrawn so what is currently the 42 is being diverted to serve that section and leaving some roads with no buses at all.

One problem will be all the cutbacks happening at the same time. I can't see D&G wanting to attempt a few commercial services simultaneously. It'll also depend how many contracts they win - if D&G win contract E they'll have one freed up vehicle over what the 88 route requires but if they fail to win contract E they might have five vehicles freed up.