West Midlands Bus Alliance Launched

[winston]

First UK Bus Alliance Launched Friday 27th Nov in the West Midlands & is set to deliver a £150 Million package of improvements over the next 5 years until 2020, it includes other local operators.

NX Groups recent announcement:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12602441.html

[JoNi]

NX announcement ;)
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/media/corporate-news/2015/national-express-helps-launch-the-uks-first-bus-alliance/&ved=0ahUKEwjYq475sLjJAhVHbhQKHXO2CZ4QFggiMAI&usg=AFQjCNEpV0tHkvA6HPf6Uok9WyOfiVD4zg

[winston]

Same as the stock exchange announcement I posted bar the photo, nothing on group website at time

[Liverpool Street]

Fare increased capped at RPI+1? And in English please

[Tony]

Fare increased capped at RPI+1? And in English please

It means fares cannot rise more than 1% above the rate of inflation, so while inflation is currently zero, the average rise should be 1%

[Liverpool Street]

It means fares cannot rise more than 1% above the rate of inflation, so while inflation is currently zero, the average rise should be 1%

So the '+1' means 1% of the inflation rate?

[Tony]

So the '+1' means 1% of the inflation rate?

Not quite it means the inflation rate +1%

So if the retail price index, one form of measuring inflation, is at 1%, bus fares can rise by 2%, so a £2 fare can go up to £2.04, as fares are normally in amounts of 5p the average of all fares will be the measure normally, so another fare not rising can balance out any larger increases within the rules

[Stu]

Press release from Centro:
http://www.centro.org.uk/about-us/news/2015/operators-sign-up-to-west-midlands-bus-alliance/

"Crucially, we will be working with the smaller bus operators to help them meet those new standards and ensure the network is not monopolised by the bigger companies."

Important statement to highlight, considering peoples' criticisms that previous Centro partnerships have just been cosying up to NX.

[Steve3229vp]

If Patronage is to rise by 5%, where does the extra garage space come from?

[winston]

If Patronage is to rise by 5%, where does the extra garage space come from?

A continued shift towards a fleet with a higher proportion of double deckers vs single deckers will allow for some patronage growth. Additional garage space could be sourced fairly easily if required, it's not an issue like in London. Plus Pensnett already has an additional adjacent plot of land that could be used to expand garage capacity by approx 50 vehicles if required in the future.

[Tony]

If Patronage is to rise by 5%, where does the extra garage space come from?

Very few buses, when the timetable is running correctly, are over 95% capacity, also if the other promise of faster journeys (haha at the moment) comes about you can actually run more journeys with the same number of buses to cope with extra usage

[Liberator9]

Diamond haven't signed up then - good to see continual improvements on the way however across most operators.

[Kevin]

Diamond haven't signed up then - good to see continual improvements on the way however across most operators.

Hmmm. Does make you wonder where Diamond are heading. Slowly giving up?

[JoNi]

How many acres will be needed for Sprint!

[Bryan]

Hmmm. Does make you wonder where Diamond are heading. Slowly giving up?

A good question.