Transdev Blazefield

[Ken H]

If you scroll along to the 8th April on the Coastliner website, the new timetable is now available

8 buses start at Malton and 7 buses end at Malton so it looks like 7-8 buses will still be run from there. The remainder start/end at either York or Tadcaster, with one ending at Leeds

Looks like it isn't as dramatic as some posts that said only a couple of buses would still be run from Malton

The first bus westbound from Malton is now slightly earlier at 0447 and as expected there is a lower but still good frequency before 8am

The last bus from York to Tadcaster now runs 13 minutes later at 2318 and starts back from Malton giving a last bus over an hour later than currently from Malton

The first bus from York to FERA now joins up with a journey from Malton to Thornton le Dale meaning an earlier journey York to Malton

The overall frequency is the same as currently but there are slightly longer journey times and longer layover meaning an extra bus in the cycle, and 840 and 843 trips no longer swap over in Leeds

Scarborough buses now terminate at Peasholm Park and no longer run to Alpamare

I wonder what happens to the Leeds terminator. Does it go back to the Tadcaster outstation?

 

[Delenn]

If you scroll along to the 8th April on the Coastliner website, the new timetable is now available

8 buses start at Malton and 7 buses end at Malton so it looks like 7-8 buses will still be run from there. The remainder start/end at either York or Tadcaster, with one ending at Leeds

Looks like it isn't as dramatic as some posts that said only a couple of buses would still be run from Malton

The first bus westbound from Malton is now slightly earlier at 0447 and as expected there is a lower but still good frequency before 8am

The last bus from York to Tadcaster now runs 13 minutes later at 2318 and starts back from Malton giving a last bus over an hour later than currently from Malton

The first bus from York to FERA now joins up with a journey from Malton to Thornton le Dale meaning an earlier journey York to Malton

The overall frequency is the same as currently but there are slightly longer journey times and longer layover meaning an extra bus in the cycle, and 840 and 843 trips no longer swap over in Leeds

Scarborough buses now terminate at Peasholm Park and no longer run to Alpamare

Thanks for that. So if you live in Pickering and work in Malton, you can't now get there for an 8:30 start. That's been well thought out....

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I wonder what happens to the Leeds terminator. Does it go back to the Tadcaster outstation?

Tadcaster outstation?

 

[Ken H]

Tadcaster outstation?

I think 2 stay overnight in Woodlands. There are 2 buses that end their journeys from the East at Marlborough Drive in the middle of an estate.

And what do you do with a bus that arrives in Leeds well after the last departure to the east.
Loads of empty running.....

 

[dodecahedron67]

I think 2 stay overnight in Woodlands. There are 2 buses that end their journeys from the East at Marlborough Drive in the middle of an estate.

And what do you do with a bus that arrives in Leeds well after the last departure to the east.
Loads of empty running.....

Those 2 currently dead run from Taddy to Malton
They will now deadrun from Taddy to York/Rawcliffe

 

[SCH117X]

Plus the current dead running Malton-Taddy in the morning. The new timetable removes a lot of current dead running and they obviously think their is enough custom for that Leeds terminating service to cover the dead running back to Rawcliffe

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I think 2 stay overnight in Woodlands. There are 2 buses that end their journeys from the East at Marlborough Drive in the middle of an estate.

And what do you do with a bus that arrives in Leeds well after the last departure to the east.
Loads of empty running.....

Genuinely didn’t know that they outbased vehicles in Tad.

 

[Stan Drews]

Genuinely didn’t know that they outbased vehicles in Tad.

They don’t, and never have.

 

[stevieinselby]

Scarborough buses now terminate at Peasholm Park and no longer run to Alpamare

Presumably because Alpamare closed last year when the company went bust ... and while the council have expressed an intention to reopen it, as far as I can see, there is no definite commitment to any timescales, so it isn't worth them continuing to run beyond Peasholm Park at least until such time as that happens.

 

[SCH117X]

Operation of the Saturday 59 Harrogate-Skipton has been suspended until the A59 reopens

Sorry, we can't find this page!

www.transdevbus.co.uk

We're so sorry to say that DalesBus 59 will be suspended after operation on Saturday 16th March until the reopening of the A59 which is currently closed for emergency repairs.

We've seen very few people on board during the the diversion period, and the diversion route will now be subject to further delays due to roadworks returning at Manor Park.


We are very sorry for any disruption caused to you - an alternative bus from Harrogate to Bolton Bridge is available on Saturdays on DalesBus 74, departing at 9.25am.

 

[RustySpoons]

The new Transdev Go app is now available to download from the relevant App Stores.

Not had a chance to properly play with it, but already it seems less intuitive to the old one. Whereas with the old app it was relatively easy to see how long it'd take for the bus to turn up at your stop it now seems you have to select your route first, which isn't much of a problem if you're on a local route but I can see it being confusing if you're on a route served by a few services.

An example of where it could be messy is Burnley, where Blackburn's Hotline service makes up the 10 minute frequency to Padiham alongside the Burnley's Mainline. It seems you have to go into the 'Blackburn' area of the app to track Hotline, rather than it showing up on Burnley's section.

Again, I could just be missing something as I've not had a proper play with it yet.

 

[SCH117X]

Just installed and if you select your stop as a favourite and look at it from favourites it seems to show all services.

 

[Leedsbusman]

The new Transdev Go app is now available to download from the relevant App Stores.

Not had a chance to properly play with it, but already it seems less intuitive to the old one. Whereas with the old app it was relatively easy to see how long it'd take for the bus to turn up at your stop it now seems you have to select your route first, which isn't much of a problem if you're on a local route but I can see it being confusing if you're on a route served by a few services.

An example of where it could be messy is Burnley, where Blackburn's Hotline service makes up the 10 minute frequency to Padiham alongside the Burnley's Mainline. It seems you have to go into the 'Blackburn' area of the app to track Hotline, rather than it showing up on Burnley's section.

Again, I could just be missing something as I've not had a proper play with it yet.

Are you sure? I’m in the Burnley section and can see a Hotline at Preston Bus Station. Keighley shows the M4 too.

 

[RustySpoons]

Just installed and if you select your stop as a favourite and look at it from favourites it seems to show all services.

Excellent!

Are you sure? I’m in the Burnley section and can see a Hotline at Preston Bus Station. Keighley shows the M4 too.

Interesting. They didn't show when I checked. I'll have another look later. All buses were displayed in orange too, regardless of operator

 

[Leedsbusman]

Excellent!



Interesting. They didn't show when I checked. I'll have another look later. All buses were displayed in orange too, regardless of operator

 

[RustySpoons]

Ahh yes. Just checked again and there's a lot more vehicles showing. Even Blackburn's Route 1!

 

[johntea]

First impressions not great (in comparison to the old app) but maybe just a case of getting used to it a bit more

Very 'laggy' moving between things though even on my iPhone 14 Pro Max

 

[158756]

Slow on my phone as well. Not a great first impression either but maybe it does just take some getting used to.

Are timetables only accessible by clicking on the calendar icon after selecting a route? Which takes you to a web link. And the timetables don't appear to be combined for routes like the Harrogate 1s or Burnley Mainline.

The route lists are sorted by number so anything with a letter prefix is going to be buried below all the school services.

Also, if there's a bus tracker page with all the e.g. Harrogate buses on, why have they removed the route number from the icons on the map? (So there are just a load of identical red buses and you need to click on them to find out which route they are on)

 

[SCH117X]

A lot of comments on X on it to which they have said there is an update coming in terms of some of them and other they are passing onto the developer.

 

[Ken H]

A lot of comments on X on it to which they have said there is an update coming in terms of some of them and other they are passing onto the developer.

So nobody tested it before implementing it then...

 

[RustySpoons]

So nobody tested it before implementing it then...

Not great is it. Surely it would have made sense to release it to a small number of users to work out bugs and issues before going for the public release.

 

[Bungle965]

Normally in the app world, there is something called a Minimum Viable Product from which the app can be developed onwards.
Normally see this in the case where the lead times are short and there is an urgency to change platforms for instance, this may have potentially have been the case here.

 

[Deerfold]

Normally in the app world, there is something called a Minimum Viable Product from which the app can be developed onwards.
Normally see this in the case where the lead times are short and there is an urgency to change platforms for instance, this may have potentially have been the case here.

Was there a need for the lead times to be short?

 

[Andyh82]

Will the new app allow customers buy tickets and check when their bus is coming - yes

Does the new app have all the nice to have bits and all the niche nitpicky bits that people here like to point out - No

Is it worth paying for another probably 12 month contact with the previous supplier until the nice to have bits are fixed - Almost certainly not

 

[RustySpoons]

Will the new app allow customers buy tickets and check when their bus is coming - yes

Does the new app have all the nice to have bits and all the niche nitpicky bits that people here like to point out - No

Is it worth paying for another probably 12 month contact with the previous supplier until the nice to have bits are fixed - Almost certainly not

Do customers like the simplicity and ease of use of the old app? - Yes
Do customers like change, especially when the change creates confusion, isn't very intuitive, riddled with bugs and a massive step back compared to the app it replaced? - No

I wouldn't say that it's just people on here picking out 'niche nitpicky' problems. If you look on Twitter/X there are a lot of regular customers highlighting some pretty serious issues with the basic functionality. It does appear the relevant teams are passing feedback onto the developer, but it really shouldn't have been publicly released with so many issues in the first place.

As for your last comment it has been suggested from a couple of different places now that the contract with the previous app supplier was up, and the new supplier delivers a cost saving. I understand they need to make financial cuts, but releasing a substandard app which still requires lots of updates isn't the way to do it. In fact, as the app was one of the things that consistently worked well across the whole company was it really worth trying to cut costs with it in the first place?

 

[158756]

Do customers like the simplicity and ease of use of the old app? - Yes
Do customers like change, especially when the change creates confusion, isn't very intuitive, riddled with bugs and a massive step back compared to the app it replaced? - No

I wouldn't say that it's just people on here picking out 'niche nitpicky' problems. If you look on Twitter/X there are a lot of regular customers highlighting some pretty serious issues with the basic functionality. It does appear the relevant teams are passing feedback onto the developer, but it really shouldn't have been publicly released with so many issues in the first place.

As for your last comment it has been suggested from a couple of different places now that the contract with the previous app supplier was up, and the new supplier delivers a cost saving. I understand they need to make financial cuts, but releasing a substandard app which still requires lots of updates isn't the way to do it. In fact, as the app was one of the things that consistently worked well across the whole company was it really worth trying to cut costs with it in the first place?

The previous supplier was Passenger I think? Looking at customer reviews on Google Play, apps using Passenger have really good reviews e.g.-

Old Transdev Go 4.7 (out of 5)
Blackpool 4.7
Nottingham 4.7
Reading 4.6
Brighton & Hove 4.6
Go North East 4.5

Those all have thousands of ratings, so it's not just people on this forum.

The top apps that come up from Rise Digital Media on the other hand -

Vision Bus 2.9
Centrebus 2.6
Uno 2.3
Adventure Travel 2.3
Diamond Bus 2.3
Falcon Buses 1.7

The new Transdev Go currently sits at 1.8 with a small number of reviews. (Note all the Rise apps have small numbers of reviews, so these might not be the most reliable numbers, but they're all in the same ballpark)

So clearly a decision has been made to save money with a cheaper but likely inferior product.

Those are also very different lists of operators, interesting to see Transdev joining the second group.

 

[Stan Drews]

It was indeed Passenger that supplied the previous Transdev Go app, and they are widely considered to provide the best apps within the bus industry.
Rise Digital Media are an already established supplier, albeit with much lower ratings, so I’m little surprised there appear to be so many things still to do, which you’d think would have been done ahead of a launch.

 

[SCH117X]

The main complaint seems to be that on the map the buses are not identified aside from some quite stupid errors like describing the 7 as Woodlands Corner to Leeds. Some obviously have not clicked on a bus icon as another complaint is that the actual vehicle is not identified when it is and the old app is the same. On Play Store a comment is made that tickets have not transferred. They have made it quite clear that customers will be contacted when their tickets are being flipped over, hence the "old" app still be valid.

 

[HarryL]

I like that the live map actually defaults to your location, rather than deciding it always wants to show you the company HQ as the old app did constantly.

The map isn't actually that helpful for finding your bus though, if you're in a busy area then it's just giving you a load of orange buses that you have to guess at to find yours. Then when you do go looking and start tapping on one the map zooms out randomly, tapping off the bus zooms it out again even further so you have to start zooming back in to find it all again. Terrible UX that doesn't bode well for it being tested.

 

[158756]

Some obviously have not clicked on a bus icon as another complaint is that the actual vehicle is not identified when it is and the old app is the same.

You didn't have to click on a bus icon to know which route it was on the old app, the number was in the icon on the map, now you just get lots of identical icons, and the tracker shows every route so it's really cluttered. Unless I've missed it there isn't any way to display more than one but not all routes on a map in the new app? Which a lot of people would probably want to do with routes like the 1s in Harrogate, Mainline in Burnley, 6s and 7s at Blackburn.

If you mean identifying the particular vehicle, (personally I'm not sure how much use this really is to most passengers, but people seem to like it), I really don't understand why they would get rid of the pictures, which everyone can understand, but keep the fleet numbers, which are only useful to a handful of enthusiasts. (I'm guessing the answer to this is that the Rise platform doesn't support the pictures)