First Greater Glasgow

[PaulMc7]

On busy, core routes like the 2 and 38 then it matters, you wouldn't exactly want a Solo to appear on a peak time journey but for a service like the 31 which is a very marginal service then single deckers are more than adequate. I've used this service a few times and it seemed to pick up very few passengers and definitely not enough to fill a decker so why it'd need a decker is beyond me.

I've used it a lot over the years and it's a lot like a number of services. There's definitely times where it does need deckers but not all the time. Between City Centre and Croftfoot and Stewartfield and EK Bus Station it can be very busy sometimes but it's the inbetween part that's the problem. I also think that it's like that because of the buses it's had on it for years. Very rarely gets anything of even decent quality so I can imagine why it's not used

 

[SarahDFIG]

Surprised to see that 61609 has had at least a partial repaint, possibly full, into Barbie albeit without the willoleaf and f logos at the rear. As far as I could ascertain it was the only Barbie liveried vehicle in use today.
67721 has notably gained a white led destination display on the nearside.

As far as I am aware there is no plans to start installing white destination's on older vehicles. Looks like any that are faulty will be replaced with white instead of orange though but could be wrong.

 

[PaulMc7]

Good start for the 19A on the changes. It's not showing on the tracking app at all anywhere on the route. On the plus side though the 1s at Dumbarton Road near me only ever gave the time and not a number of mins and now it's tracking by minutes so that's the good and bad of the app I guess. Could be better, could be worse

 

[CM]

Good start for the 19A on the changes. It's not showing on the tracking app at all anywhere on the route. On the plus side though the 1s at Dumbarton Road near me only ever gave the time and not a number of mins and now it's tracking by minutes so that's the good and bad of the app I guess. Could be better, could be worse

Tracking apps are pointless and just a gimmick as half the time they aren't even accurate.

 

[PaulMc7]

Tracking apps are pointless and just a gimmick as half the time they aren't even accurate.

I've noticed that with the 1s and 6s where I stay. The 6s turn up a lot when they say 1/2mins still and with the 1s they say due for sometimes 6/7 mins

 

[Jordan Adam]

Tracking apps are pointless and just a gimmick as half the time they aren't even accurate.

I disagree, they can guinely make getting the bus much easier. As for accuracy, I can't speak for you but I never have issue with the First app here. Although the data comes from Realtime rather than First.

 

[PaulMc7]

I disagree, they can guinely make getting the bus much easier. As for accuracy, I can't speak for you but I never have issue with the First app here. Although the data comes from Realtime rather than First.

It's definitely handy to have one. Even though it's not always spot on I'd rather have a guide than have to guess especially as unreliability is fairly common with most of the services I use

 

[CM]

I disagree, they can guinely make getting the bus much easier. As for accuracy, I can't speak for you but I never have issue with the First app here. Although the data comes from Realtime rather than First.

I've managed without them for years, and millions of people have managed without them for decades, they are just a novelty for the people who these days can't do anything unless someone spoon feeds them info.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I've managed without them for years, and millions of people have managed without them for decades, they are just a novelty for the people who these days can't do anything unless someone spoon feeds them info.

What a ridiculous comment. Of course anyone (myself included) can manage without the tracking/apps. But they make things far easier, especially if there's a hold up on your route or less importantly if a enthusiast/spotter is trying to find a specific vehicle. Also i advise you check up on the meaning of novelty, surely in age where the industry is trying to get as many people to switch to buses as it can vehicle tracking and live bus times is one of the key first steps. I live on a route with a 20 minute frequency, i don't particularly want to wait 15+ minutes for a bus if i've just missed one. It's so useful being able to open my phone, go on to an app and then see how long the next bus is, that way i can leave my house just on time to get the bus rather than rushing out to find i've just missed one.

I'm not even going to comment on the "spoon feed" statement as once again it's ridiculous. However what i will say is that if anything is offered that can make a impossible/difficult task easier to do then of course i would take advantage of it without shame. The fact you pity people for doing is quite funny in all honesty. I don't suppose your car (if you drive) doesn't have a starter motor?

It's definitely handy to have one. Even though it's not always spot on I'd rather have a guide than have to guess especially as unreliability is fairly common with most of the services I use

The service i use although reliable has a inconsistent frequency up until around 11am, so it's near impossible to remember all the times as i said in my reply to Colin M it's useful being able to go on to my phone and see the times or if it's sooner how far away the bus is.

Although not really applicable in the "real world" the vehicle fleet number tracking is very useful as a enthusiast because if a certain bus appears that i need to photo i can find out where, what route and when it'll be somewhere within a few clicks. Where as before i would've had to go in to the city centre and wait for it or rely on other peoples sightings. Backwards people may call that lazy, i don't. It's useful and saves loads of time for doing other things.

 

[PaulMc7]

What a ridiculous comment. Of course anyone (myself included) can manage without the tracking/apps. But they make things far easier, especially if there's a hold up on your route or less importantly if a enthusiast/spotter is trying to find a specific vehicle. Also i advise you check up on the meaning of novelty, surely in age where the industry is trying to get as many people to switch to buses as it can vehicle tracking and live bus times is one of the key first steps. I live on a route with a 20 minute frequency, i don't particularly want to wait 15+ minutes for a bus if i've just missed one. It's so useful being able to open my phone, go on to an app and then see how long the next bus is, that way i can leave my house just on time to get the bus rather than rushing out to find i've just missed one.

I'm not even going to comment on the "spoon feed" statement as once again it's ridiculous. However what i will say is that if anything is offered that can make a impossible/difficult task easier to do then of course i would take advantage of it without shame. The fact you pity people for doing is quite funny in all honesty. I don't suppose your car (if you drive) doesn't have a starter motor?



The service i use although reliable has a inconsistent frequency up until around 11am, so it's near impossible to remember all the times as i said in my reply to Colin M it's useful being able to go on to my phone and see the times or if it's sooner how far away the bus is.

Although not really applicable in the "real world" the vehicle fleet number tracking is very useful as a enthusiast because if a certain bus appears that i need to photo i can find out where, what route and when it'll be somewhere within a few clicks. Where as before i would've had to go in to the city centre and wait for it or rely on other peoples sightings. Backwards people may call that lazy, i don't. It's useful and saves loads of time for doing other things.

Even though all of my buses are very frequent due to the unreliability the app is a great step in the right direction. Every 5/6 min buses for me can end up bunching a lot so I would rather know if that's happening or not because sometimes I wait 20 mins then 3 come. Taking advantage of any technological advances is extremely important especially in a city with a lot of problems regarding reliability of buses. If it did not exist I reckon more people would switch because any form of transport can encounter issues at any point and it's better to be on top of them and if First didn't have an app then people wouldn't go waiting if say a train was available

 

[Bus Lightyear]

I've used it a lot over the years and it's a lot like a number of services. There's definitely times where it does need deckers but not all the time. Between City Centre and Croftfoot and Stewartfield and EK Bus Station it can be very busy sometimes but it's the inbetween part that's the problem. I also think that it's like that because of the buses it's had on it for years. Very rarely gets anything of even decent quality so I can imagine why it's not used

I would just be thankful that the 31 is still running as it was earmarked for withdrawal along with some other routes at the time First Group had lost the Scotrail franchise but First Glasgow to their credit have since kept it going.

It might have some busy peak journeys hence why it's normally ran with deckers but during the day single decks would cope ok. Carmunnock and Stewartfield are relatively affluent suburbs and probably don't generate a lot of passengers. That also mean that the financial returns are not good enough to invest in newer buses being used.

The post 7pm journeys and the all day Sunday timetable has been run under tender for a good 20 years now. I think for a short time it was contracted to Stagecoach.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Even though all of my buses are very frequent due to the unreliability the app is a great step in the right direction. Every 5/6 min buses for me can end up bunching a lot so I would rather know if that's happening or not because sometimes I wait 20 mins then 3 come. Taking advantage of any technological advances is extremely important especially in a city with a lot of problems regarding reliability of buses. If it did not exist I reckon more people would switch because any form of transport can encounter issues at any point and it's better to be on top of them and if First didn't have an app then people wouldn't go waiting if say a train was available

Agree, perhaps veering off topic too much here however on lesser frequent rural routes where there may be a limited number of buses per day the case for vehicle tracking is even stronger.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Good start for the 19A on the changes. It's not showing on the tracking app at all anywhere on the route. On the plus side though the 1s at Dumbarton Road near me only ever gave the time and not a number of mins and now it's tracking by minutes so that's the good and bad of the app I guess. Could be better, could be worse

Have some patience. It was only confirmed at the last minute that the 19A would be running so probably not enough time to have it working on all the numerous information functions we have these days.

 

[PaulMc7]

I would just be thankful that the 31 is still running as it was earmarked for withdrawal along with some other routes at the time First Group had lost the Scotrail franchise but First Glasgow to their credit have since kept it going.

It might have some busy peak journeys hence why it's normally ran with deckers but during the day single decks would cope ok. Carmunnock and Stewartfield are relatively affluent suburbs and probably don't generate a lot of passengers. That also mean that the financial returns are not good enough to invest in newer buses being used.

The post 7pm journeys and the all day Sunday timetable has been run under tender for a good 20 years now. I think for a short time it was contracted to Stagecoach.

Yeah I remember Stagecoach having a go with it along with the 46 at one point too. I'm surprised the 31 has lasted at every 30 mins and at a minimum not went hourly or been reworked into another service to cut away at the EK end of the route. There's a lot wrong with First's network here but there's definitely some services they've dragged life through in order to keep them going

 

[CM]

What a ridiculous comment. Of course anyone (myself included) can manage without the tracking/apps. But they make things far easier, especially if there's a hold up on your route or less importantly if a enthusiast/spotter is trying to find a specific vehicle. Also i advise you check up on the meaning of novelty, surely in age where the industry is trying to get as many people to switch to buses as it can vehicle tracking and live bus times is one of the key first steps. I live on a route with a 20 minute frequency, i don't particularly want to wait 15+ minutes for a bus if i've just missed one. It's so useful being able to open my phone, go on to an app and then see how long the next bus is, that way i can leave my house just on time to get the bus rather than rushing out to find i've just missed one.

Nothing ridiculous about it, I have needed to and never will use a tracking app to find out when the next bus is, what I'll do and what people have done so for decades is look at the timetable on the bus stop, on the website or if I have one, look at a paper copy. If I miss a bus that's on a 20-minute frequency then I don't need an app to tell me that the next one is pretty likely to be 20 minutes away. It's not exactly rocket science.

 

[PaulMc7]

Nothing ridiculous about it, I have needed to and never will use a tracking app to find out when the next bus is, what I'll do and what people have done so for decades is look at the timetable on the bus stop, on the website or if I have one, look at a paper copy. If I miss a bus that's on a 20-minute frequency then I don't need an app to tell me that the next one is pretty likely to be 20 minutes away. It's not exactly rocket science.

Loads of people use the app for basic forward planning plus let's be realistic especially about Glasgow. How often do buses stick to timetables? It's very easy for them to be late and using the advances in technology we've had isn't a bad thing. It's actually very smart. It's very often the ones that don't plan ahead and use the app that go complaining about buses being late for reasons out of the drivers control

 

[ScotRail158725]

Nothing ridiculous about it, I have needed to and never will use a tracking app to find out when the next bus is, what I'll do and what people have done so for decades is look at the timetable on the bus stop, on the website or if I have one, look at a paper copy. If I miss a bus that's on a 20-minute frequency then I don't need an app to tell me that the next one is pretty likely to be 20 minutes away. It's not exactly rocket science.

its fine that that you want to live in 1980, but dont moan at us for being modern. most if not all if us here use the app for the reasons stated by Jordan above which is better than your old fashioned way

 

[PaulMc7]

its fine that that you want to live in 1980, but most if not all if us here use the app for the reasons stated by Jordan above

This is literally what I held back saying. I'm getting a very "dark age" "I hate youth and technology" vibe from Colin

 

[CM]

its fine that that you want to live in 1980, but dont moan at us for being modern. most if not all if us here use the app for the reasons stated by Jordan above which is better than your old fashioned way

The only thing I use the app for is buying tickets as that IS a useful thing to have, it's got sod all to do with anyone wanting to "live in 1980". I just don't see the point in having an app to tell you something that you already know, that the bus is late....

 

[CM]

This is literally what I held back saying. I'm getting a very "dark age" "I hate youth and technology" vibe from Colin

I don't hate youth, and to be honest, that is an idiotic comment to make to someone. I'm just don't feel it necessary to rely on my overpriced bit of foreign plastic to tell me everything, I have and always will prefer to figure things out for myself.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Nothing ridiculous about it, I have needed to and never will use a tracking app to find out when the next bus is, what I'll do and what people have done so for decades is look at the timetable on the bus stop, on the website or if I have one, look at a paper copy. If I miss a bus that's on a 20-minute frequency then I don't need an app to tell me that the next one is pretty likely to be 20 minutes away. It's not exactly rocket science.

That's up to you how you do things. But not everyone does things the way you do and you need to understand that. There's no need to try and belittle others for making their lives more efficient (so to speak) or easier. Also bus stop timetables are not in real time and certainly here often outdated, not to mention at stops that are not timing points the times are auto-generated, so often wrong. For paper timetables on my route heading in to the city centre the previous timing point is between 5 to 15 minutes away depending on time of day, so it's not much use.

This is literally what I held back saying. I'm getting a very "dark age" "I hate youth and technology" vibe from Colin

its fine that that you want to live in 1980, but most if not all if us here use the app for the reasons stated by Jordan above

Those scared of the future are the ones who end up stuck in the past. I said this a few posts back and perhaps it's a generational thing but i do truly believe that if a tool is offered than can make a task faster/easier/more efficient then i'm more than happy to try it out and if it works continue using it. It's not lazy and it doesn't mean you "can't function without it", arguably although not intending to sound vain it makes you smarter as you're using what's on offer to your best advantage, this doesn't just apply to tracking apps but everything in life. You don't hammer a nail in to a wall with your bare hands, you use a tool (a hammer) because it makes things easier and faster.

I don't hate youth, and to be honest, that is an idiotic comment to make to someone. I'm just don't feel it necessary to rely on my overpriced bit of foreign plastic to tell me everything, I have and always will prefer to figure things out for myself.

To be blunt, your reply has just proven the statement to be accurate.

 

[CM]

That's up to you how you do things. But not everyone does things the way you do and you need to understand that. There's no need to try and belittle others for making their lives more efficient (so to speak) or easier. Also bus stop timetables are not in real time and certainly here often outdated, not to mention at stops that are not timing points the times are auto-generated, so often wrong. For paper timetables on my route heading in to the city centre the previous timing point is between 5 to 15 minutes away depending on time of day, so it's not much use.




Those scared of the future are the ones who end up stuck in the past. I said this a few posts back and perhaps it's a generational thing but i do truly believe that if a tool is offered than can make a task faster/easier/more efficient then i'm more than happy to try it out and if it works continue using it. It's not lazy and it doesn't mean you "can't function without it", arguably although not intending to sound vain it makes you smarter as you're using what's on offer to your best advantage, this doesn't just apply to tracking apps but everything in life. You don't hammer a nail in to a wall with your bare hands, you use a tool (a hammer) because it makes things easier and faster.



To be blunt, your reply has just proven the statement to be accurate.

You are absolutely 100% correct, it is up to me how I do things and I know fine well everyone has a different way of doing things as well. But with this being a PUBLIC forum, I am entitled to my opinion as is everyone else. I've already stated quite clearly that I do use the app for ticketing as being able to buy a ticket before even leaving the house is useful as it saves running around trying to scrape up shrapnel to put in the box or pissing about trying to fish the bank card out the wallet. You clearly ignored that part of my post though....

I'm not "belittling" anyone either, I'm merely stating, that in my opinion, tracking apps are pointless as they can be just as inaccurate as the paper timetable on the bus stop. It's just an opinion, that's it.

 

[sannox]

Living on the 90 I use the tracking app all the time. The paper timetable is next to worthless and it is useful to find out what is actually happening and reducing the anxiety if it is actually going to turn up. My last bus was 11mins late- I had to be somewhere on time and without knowing it was late I might have resorted to another way there. It's also useful for the night buses as I have had several not turn up at the right time.

 

[PaulMc7]

Living on the 90 I use the tracking app all the time. The paper timetable is next to worthless and it is useful to find out what is actually happening and reducing the anxiety if it is actually going to turn up. My last bus was 11mins late- I had to be somewhere on time and without knowing it was late I might have resorted to another way there. It's also useful for the night buses as I have had several not turn up at the right time.

Yeah the 90 is one of the worst for reliability. Night buses were always horrific when I used to use them for nights out. Glad I don't need to anymore

 

[Whiteway215]

Just a few for the scrapyard

I see on the Bustracker there are still 10 Transbus Tridents apparently operational but up for replacement soon I presume?

 

[route101]

Agree, perhaps veering off topic too much here however on lesser frequent rural routes where there may be a limited number of buses per day the case for vehicle tracking is even stronger.

Yes , i use the app to track the 31 as its only every half hour or hourly. Dont want to be waiting ages at the bus stop.

 

[route101]

I see on the Bustracker there are still 10 Transbus Tridents apparently operational but up for replacement soon I presume?

Usually seen on 46 , 19 , 31 (Less on now ) and did se one on 60 on saturday.

 

[route101]

Living on the 90 I use the tracking app all the time. The paper timetable is next to worthless and it is useful to find out what is actually happening and reducing the anxiety if it is actually going to turn up. My last bus was 11mins late- I had to be somewhere on time and without knowing it was late I might have resorted to another way there. It's also useful for the night buses as I have had several not turn up at the right time.

Do you have any other buses you could use apart from the 90?

 

[route101]

Yeah I remember Stagecoach having a go with it along with the 46 at one point too. I'm surprised the 31 has lasted at every 30 mins and at a minimum not went hourly or been reworked into another service to cut away at the EK end of the route. There's a lot wrong with First's network here but there's definitely some services they've dragged life through in order to keep them going

Yeah , id imagine if it were to be cut , it would go hourly City to Carmunnock . EK sectio done away with . Yeah Stagecoach in 2014 , buses were often late due to drivers changing off the x19 and had to buy separate tickets .

 

[route101]

I've used it a lot over the years and it's a lot like a number of services. There's definitely times where it does need deckers but not all the time. Between City Centre and Croftfoot and Stewartfield and EK Bus Station it can be very busy sometimes but it's the inbetween part that's the problem. I also think that it's like that because of the buses it's had on it for years. Very rarely gets anything of even decent quality so I can imagine why it's not used

Its busy at peaks for sure . Single in the morning was full other day. Most users seen to be using it from Top of Castlemilk to Croftfoot to and from town as its the fast bus .