Transdev Blazefield

[Swimbar]

If marketing doesn't work, why is it such a large industry? Why do firms spend millions when they needn't bother and just have a white box in a supermarket with "Washing Powder" scribbled on in biro?

Because there is probably a choice of 30 washing powders on the shelf. If its the choice of a red Transdev Harrogate bus or a red Transdev Harrogate bus then struggle to see the need for all the expense, unless they think they can get people out of their air-conditioned cars onto the bus.

 

[SCH117X]

Because there is probably a choice of 30 washing powders on the shelf. If its the choice of a red Transdev Harrogate bus or a red Transdev Harrogate bus then struggle to see the need for all the expense, unless they think they can get people out of their air-conditioned cars onto the bus.

Which seems to be the case with increased use pre CV19 - you either try to attract custom with better vehicles (or gimmicks if you prefer) or cater for the existing that is gradually diminishing. I was in Church Fenton at the weekend which is primarily served by NYCCs own services and a completely blank display case so no promotion whatsoever.

 

[RustySpoons]

Because there is probably a choice of 30 washing powders on the shelf. If its the choice of a red Transdev Harrogate bus or a red Transdev Harrogate bus then struggle to see the need for all the expense, unless they think they can get people out of their air-conditioned cars onto the bus.

And of course the issue there is that no amount of marketing budget or sky lights, leather seats, USB and WiFi on the bus will lure passengers out of the car if the bus network isn't convenient.

This is the issue in Burnley, the Witch Way used to be perfect for getting into Manchester from anywhere in or around the town on the bus. Buy a ticket on the first bus you catch, swap to the WW in town and catch the same local bus home. It's something you can't do now. You may be able to get to Manchester easy enough, but getting home in the evening is likely to be impossible on the bus. So people just won't bother.

Admittedly this is the fault of LCC and their roll-a-6-for-subsidies bus funding scheme. But a lack of decent evening services all but rules the bus out for recreational travel, and unfortunately depending on work patterns it can rule it out for commuting too.

 

[Andyh82]

Why is it that this thread, about Transdev, which are generally considered to be good, generates this same discussion constantly week after week, but threads about poorer companies doesn’t?

All the points made may apply here, but they certainly apply ten times over elsewhere

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Because there is probably a choice of 30 washing powders on the shelf. If its the choice of a red Transdev Harrogate bus or a red Transdev Harrogate bus then struggle to see the need for all the expense, unless they think they can get people out of their air-conditioned cars onto the bus.

Perhaps they do think that they can develop more sales, perhaps so people don’t use the car., or train, or taxi or Uber?

Surely that’s got to be better than doing nothing? After all, isn’t this highlighted by firms such as Reading Buses and some more enlightened First OpCos who also see marketing as essential?

Why is it that this thread, about Transdev, which are generally considered to be good, generates this same discussion constantly week after week, but threads about poorer companies doesn’t?

All the points made may apply here, but they certainly apply ten times over elsewhere

This is what gets me. Yes, perhaps the unstinting positivity is cloying but are they better than Arriva and First, or the Diamond range of colours and obsolete schemes, never mind the dubious service quality? I would venture so.

 

[cnjb8]

Why is it that this thread, about Transdev, which are generally considered to be good, generates this same discussion constantly week after week, but threads about poorer companies doesn’t?

All the points made may apply here, but they certainly apply ten times over elsewhere

I reckon they just don't like Alex Hornby and feel the need to attack everything he's worked towards. He's good at promotion, I think that's a good thing, rather than First having all of their Twitter accounts ran from Leeds.

 

[Alexbus12]

. He's good at promotion, I think that's a good thing, rather than First having all of their Twitter accounts ran from Leeds.

It's pointless having twitter accounts if you block all of your customers that make a complaint...

 

[Swimbar]

It's pointless having twitter accounts if you block all of your customers that make a complaint...

Or sticking large amounts of sticky back plastic on buses if HM Government says 'please use your car'
One thing that Transdev have always been good at is Driver Training. Seeing yesterday's two incidents with school bus double deckers hitting low bridges we should be thankful for that.

 

[northrob]

It's pointless having twitter accounts if you block all of your customers that make a complaint...

I'm sure he not the only CEO or equilivant to do that - it is his Twitter account after all...

Or sticking large amounts of sticky back plastic on buses if HM Government says 'please use your car'

Should they just stop bothering then? If anything, they need marketing now more than ever.

Some people do seem quick to criticise without offering an alternative or what they could do better.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It's pointless having twitter accounts if you block all of your customers that make a complaint...

Well, just glancing at the Harrogate twitter feed, there are a number of people who have made complaints and had responses back. Perhaps it's the tenor of the complaint?

Or sticking large amounts of sticky back plastic on buses if HM Government says 'please use your car'
One thing that Transdev have always been good at is Driver Training. Seeing yesterday's two incidents with school bus double deckers hitting low bridges we should be thankful for that.

Bus companies should market themselves, and even more so in these times. The criticism should be towards those operators who are so complacent that they do nothing to persuade people to travel, not those that do (imperfect as they are).

 

[CBlue]

I don't really understand all the complaining about Transdev's Blazefield ops.

I look at my local Stagecoach op and most of what I see are slowly deteriorating 10 year old e400s that are getting quite scruffy, with threadbare seats inside and heavily worn-out original coat of paint on the exterior. New services get a few timetables slapped up online and are left to fend for themselves. Not an advert to leave the car at home yet the sort of operation some posters seem to feel is adequate?

TB on the other hand seem to present their fleet well, publicise new routes to quite an extent and heavily refurb older vehicles into what seems to be quite a posh spec. I'd have far less reservations about trying their services instead of the car, simply as the bus looks clean and comfortable for a start!

Feels to me that some of the complaining and petty tribalism has hung around ever since that firm in Tockwith started competing with them.

 

[duncombec]

Well, just glancing at the Harrogate twitter feed, there are a number of people who have made complaints and had responses back. Perhaps it's the tenor of the complaint?

Unfortunately, a lot of people forget their manners when using social media to make complaints - and as plenty of other people manage, you can hardly complain about character limits for keeping it "short and sour".
The company I used to commute with have said that they have about half a dozen users for whom they could never do anything right, and a similar number who never seemed to able to tweet them without swearing/being generally abusive. When they started blocking the latter category, those self-same people started complaining about how outrageous it was they'd been blocked.

Back to the matter that started this particular bout of messages, there are so many issues around at the moment that could have caused the cancellation of those journeys it is ridiculous to even try and guess. Buses and drivers are at an absolute premium - I've seen a Go North East Levante on loan to Brighton & Hove this week, so operators are moving 'spare' vehicles around and sub-contracting to other operators as best they can. Would those passengers prefer if they just said nothing at all and let you find out for yourself? After all, the only reason we even know these journeys were cancelled is because the company publicized it! I notice one parent used twitter to complain about her son having to wait an hour for the next bus... yet apparently neither he nor she checked twitter for potential disruptions that morning beforehand?
There will be many fine decisions to be made, and perhaps whoever is in charge that morning considered it was a lesser evil to disadvantage, say, 15 schoolchildren who travel on that journey, knowing there would be another one along eventually that would get them to school, albeit late, than 55 schoolchildren on another service that has no such 'safety net'?

 

[cnjb8]

It's pointless having twitter accounts if you block all of your customers that make a complaint...

Well fair enough

Or sticking large amounts of sticky back plastic on buses if HM Government says 'please use your car'
One thing that Transdev have always been good at is Driver Training. Seeing yesterday's two incidents with school bus double deckers hitting low bridges we should be thankful for that.

Transdev weren't the only operator to do that

 

[SCH117X]

Unfortunately, a lot of people forget their manners when using social media to make complaints - and as plenty of other people manage, you can hardly I've seen a Go North East Levante on loan to Brighton & Hove this week, so operators are moving 'spare' vehicles around and sub-contracting to other operators as best they can.

Meanwhile Go North East have been using a Routemaster on scheduled services. The latest WYIS fleetlist shows TB as having only four vehicles awaiting reuse, 3 Rosso Scania K230UBs 1613-1615 and an ex Travel West Mids President 2726 that remains in its acquired livery. Of the formerly withdrawn 36xx vehicles, 3602 is at York, 3603 has joined 3607 at Burnley, 3604 has joined 3601 and 3605 at Keighley, 3613 is reinstated at Harrogate and 3614 is at Rochdale (still in HBC red) . 3606 however is listed as withdrawn for disposal.

 

[RustySpoons]

...Of the formerly withdrawn 36xx vehicles, 3602 is at York, 3603 has joined 3607 at Burnley, 3604 has joined 3601 and 3605 at Keighley, 3613 is reinstated at Harrogate and 3614 is at Rochdale (still in HBC red) . 3606 however is listed as withdrawn for disposal.

I believe 3606's engine went pop.

I don't think anyone can say it hasn't served the company well though!

 

[SCH117X]

I believe 3606's engine went pop.

I don't think anyone can say it hasn't served the company well though!

Except that along with 3601-3612 it was significantly rebuilt and that engine is only 9 years old.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Except that along with 3601-3612 it was significantly rebuilt and that engine is only 9 years old.

‘Only’ nine years old. Probably done half a million miles or maybe more then......

 

[JetBlast]

I'm sure he not the only CEO or equilivant to do that - it is his Twitter account after all...

Well, just glancing at the Harrogate twitter feed, there are a number of people who have made complaints and had responses back. Perhaps it's the tenor of the complaint?

I Tweeted the official Rosso account. They advertised countless payments on a route. I tried to board and couldn't pay as the ticket machine didn't accept contless. I didn't have any cash. I had to walk. I told them this and they blocked me.

 

[philthetube]

Do you have a copy of the actual tweet that you sent, if it was polite and respectful then there is scope to stir things up for them.

any chance of posting it?

 

[JetBlast]

Do you have a copy of the actual tweet that you sent, if it was polite and respectful then there is scope to stir things up for them.

any chance of posting it?

When I finish work I will have a look and respond. It was some time ago so might take a while.

 

[Bus9120UK]

Alex Hornby has posted a new image of the new "Witchway" buses that are coming soon. Personally they look pretty good from the small snippets we get. https://twitter.com/alextransdev/status/1305950468204617735

A new witch is getting ready to fly.

 

[RustySpoons]

The 'teaser' picture that was attached to Alex's Tweet, as mentioned above, for those who can't view it.

Only two of the pictures seem to be in focus, which is a bit of a shame, but you can make out that alternate headrests are a slightly different shade of orange. Hopefully they won't look too garish, although I've never been a fan of alternate seats designs being different. The only ones I've seen that I think do work well are the seats in the standard Transdev moquette on the Versas, one design for the left hand seats and a mirroring design for the right.

Looks like it's orange and black for the livery too! The black will look nice when new, but not so sure how it'll look once it's lost it's shine and got a few thousand miles worth of road grime under it's belt. Having said that the original WW livery was predominantly black back in 2005, though that had red and chrome/silver contrasts to help distract from it. It's hard to judge though from seeing a tiny teaser pic.

Also notice what looks like a rear facing seat on the third photo. I reckon we'll have at least one table on the top deck too. A nice touch.

Looks like we've got a new witch too, vaguely reminiscent of the Wella logo!



Looking forward to seeing the final result!

 

[philthetube]

I suspect, and it is a guess, that the apparent rear facing seat may be a wheelchair space

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The 'teaser' picture that was attached to Alex's Tweet, as mentioned above, for those who can't view it.

Only two of the pictures seem to be in focus, which is a bit of a shame, but you can make out that alternate headrests are a slightly different shade of orange. Hopefully they won't look too garish, although I've never been a fan of alternate seats designs being different. The only ones I've seen that I think do work well are the seats in the standard Transdev moquette on the Versas, one design for the left hand seats and a mirroring design for the right.

Looks like it's orange and black for the livery too! The black will look nice when new, but not so sure how it'll look once it's lost it's shine and got a few thousand miles worth of road grime under it's belt. Having said that the original WW livery was predominantly black back in 2005, though that had red and chrome/silver contrasts to help distract from it. It's hard to judge though from seeing a tiny teaser pic.

Also notice what looks like a rear facing seat on the third photo. I reckon we'll have at least one table on the top deck too. A nice touch.

Looks like we've got a new witch too, vaguely reminiscent of the Wella logo!

View attachment 83599

Looking forward to seeing the final result!

As anyone who's had a black car knows, it's a tricky one to keep smart but then again, Reading Buses have a Stenning design with the JetBlack service to Newbury and they can keep on top of it.

It'll be interesting to see them out on the road and good to see some investment in new vehicles as there's not many around.

 

[RustySpoons]

I suspect, and it is a guess, that the apparent rear facing seat may be a wheelchair space

Not on the top deck

 

[scosutsut]

Not on the top deck

Decent chance of a table perhaps.

 

[philthetube]

I suspect, and it is a guess, that the apparent rear facing seat may be a wheelchair space

Not on the top deck

you could have a point there

 

[Ashly_Jethro]

Looks like we've got a new witch too, vaguely reminiscent of the Wella logo!

I thought that too. I hope it doesn’t mark the end of the “Classy” witch on a broom that we have on the current livery, I think that’s what made it so special.

 

[RustySpoons]

I thought that too. I hope it doesn’t mark the end of the “Classy” witch on a broom that we have on the current livery, I think that’s what made it so special.

Classy! She was called slutty by some when she was first revealed, certain people (who like to complain about everything and more than likely never even catch the bus) accused Transdev of sexualising the bus. One of the local MPs got involved! It was ridiculous.

It will be sad to see Blondie go, but from the tiny peek we can see so far it looks like she's grown up to become an elegant witch...

 

[Deerfold]

As reported in the First West Yorkshire thread, Metro are reporting that Transdev are to take over running the 784 between Skipton and Otley.

Leeds Bus service change Oct 4 2020 | Metro

wymetro.com