Social Travel

[mranon]

there is a lot worse out there, at least social had a go, and just a shame they put their eggs in one basket so quickly. they did at least have some sort of livery, why not put a name on god only knows. however for independents, (regardless of their problems) green bus of great wyrley - until the merc minibus finale, you heard the bus coming before the smart livery appeared. travel express - just a sham! then there is select, most of their buses are in livery and they not afraid to put their name on vehicles. good luck to social travel whatever they do.

[Steveminor]

I take your point Barry but with all due respects at times our buses are timetabled for a 20 min layover & are timed at a steady 35mph along a national speed limit rd. Without roadworks then times are too easy to keep to.
Regarding the drivers well a driver that was due back at depot at 6.30 sitting at radford bank stuck in traffic not moving is going to be very very upset, couple that to the knowledge that this may continue on till September, well you can see why they're all upset.  Not pampering to the drivers at all as if it was upto them they wouldn't start till 8 & finish by 5. I ain't doing that but do have to consider their welfare. Managing staff is all about knowing when to kick ass & when to kiss it.
With what's going on traffic wise I have to show we're thinking about how to keep reliability or what we're doing about it. Whilst arriva are running unregistered shuttle service they do have kind of a case. Unfortunately I do not have that option as I only have 4 discs & am using 4 buses. If I give any more running time then I can't run a clock face timetable & will ultimately lose revenue to the point that it becomes unprofitable & then risk people's jobs.
At this time the 11 is a safe stable option it provides a good revenue stream (although nowhere near what the 74 takes). It's close to the depot so if a vehicle has a fault it'd easy for the mechanic to reach, if a driver feels unwell & needs to finish early then it's a very quick & easy process to replace him & get him home & demonstrates to the tc that we know there are timing issues with the 74 at the moment which we may not be able to deal with so are reverting to a service where we can run reliably within the tc accepted tolerance.
Ultimately as I have said before my job is to safeguard the business & it's staff & that's what I'm doing simple.

[646]

At this time the 11 is a safe stable option it provides a good revenue stream (although nowhere near what the 74 takes). It's close to the depot so if a vehicle has a fault it'd easy for the mechanic to reach, if a driver feels unwell & needs to finish early then it's a very quick & easy process to replace him & get him home & demonstrates to the tc that we know there are timing issues with the 74 at the moment which we may not be able to deal with so are reverting to a service where we can run reliably within the tc accepted tolerance.
Ultimately as I have said before my job is to safeguard the business & it's staff & that's what I'm doing simple.

Didn't you think about this before?

[Westy]

Central operate a outstation in Kiddy for their 125.

Couldn't you have done something similar?

Without delving too deeply into your driver's personal circumstances, do they all live close to Smethwick, or do any drivers live close to the Cannock area?

[Solo1]

your bus was in Alcester & run light from the maypole /Solihull  to /from their base  in Alcester

[2206]

your bus was in Alcester & run light from the maypole /Solihull  to /from their base  in Alcester

What has Alcester and Maypole got to do with Social Travel?

[Kevin]

What has Alcester and Maypole got to do with Social Travel?

Example of a garage miles away from any route it operates

[Bob]

there is a lot worse out there, at least social had a go, and just a shame they put their eggs in one basket so quickly. they did at least have some sort of livery, why not put a name on god only knows. however for independents, (regardless of their problems) green bus of great wyrley - until the merc minibus finale, you heard the bus coming before the smart livery appeared. travel express - just a sham! then there is select, most of their buses are in livery and they not afraid to put their name on vehicles. good luck to social travel whatever they do.

What Green Bus of Great Wyrley who got done for un roadworthy and unsafe buses??? I remember towards the end NOV 31T one of their very last Leopards in service without a working speedo!

[Bob]

Why couldn't it have been successfull if quite a few passengers get the first bus that comes and the first bus is Social Travel they will get on Social Travel? It was already mentioned they prefer the 11C because of the roadworks in Stafford.

I regularly work in Stafford and have never seen this shuttle bus??? What do they use on it?

[Solo1]

What has Alcester and Maypole got to do with Social Travel?

just saying social travel are a long way from depot running in Stafford like your bus in Alcester

[Busman Jamie]

@Bob can be anything from a dart to a pulsar

[mranon]

What Green Bus of Great Wyrley who got done for un roadworthy and unsafe buses??? I remember towards the end NOV 31T one of their very last Leopards in service without a working speedo!

bob they wasn't always like that!!! however I remember many buses out in service with non-working speedos! however they had an identity, most of their drivers worked for them for years, and as far as their services I used to use as a teenager, they were never far off scheduled time.

[countryliner]

I must say that whenever i saw or went on the Social Travel route 11C service in the past it always seems to be busy and quite well used. So i personally think that Social Travel will be quite successful when they go back on to the route 11C service.

[barry619]

Whilst arriva are running unregistered shuttle service...

Again, making allegations that Arriva are running unregistered services is quite a serious matter. It's not something I would be doing in public - unless I had cast-iron evidence to back it up...

At this time the 11 is a safe stable option it provides a good revenue stream (although nowhere near what the 74 takes).

Yes, I suppose there is plenty of another operator's revenue to cream off on the Outer Circle without adding anything whatsoever to the service as a whole.

[Dutsey]

This seems to me like an operation looking at the short term and trying to make a fast buck without giving any consideration to passengers.

Tony alluded to it earlier but new routes can be found. Take the Xpre55 run by Central Buses. 2 brand new buses , route branded (I know people don't like this), free wifi and offering a direct service between Lichfield and Tamworth at regular intervals it has been running successfully over the past two years and has also now got customer loyalty.

Arriva were left standing and now no matter what they try on the Tamworth to Lichfield bus corridor they have lost some of the market to a good competitor.