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Gotta be honest, as a glass half-full person, I am dismayed by what I see on Facebook at times.

No-one wants a bus to be late. I don't (although I just carry on reading my book). It's frustrating. But I really don't get the angle of some folk on Facebook, e.g. "My bus was 7 minutes late yesterday morning, what do you say to that?" or "You should try running punctual buses."

I believe buses can be punctual all of the time - if this were 1914 when there was less traffic on the road. But in 2019, with congestion and roadworks, not to mention unforeseen occurrences like a lorry double parking, how can any bus be on time constantly? I am sure drivers don't want their services to be late, either.

At least 90% of the comments on the NX West Midlands and Arriva FB pages are complaints. And even worse is that they are retrospective complaints. I mean, just what does the FB user expect NX WM or Arriva to do about a bus that was late two days ago?  ::)

I can't find it on Facebook (a search of "Steve" and "Arriva" revealed a post from 2014).

Hope this is of interest to some:

Why bus driver Steve is one of the very best around

By charging bus companies is wrong.  This could/will lead to NX, Diamond, First, Arriva and Stagecoach (Megabus) raising the bus fares so passengers the clean air charge.  If the fares are raised it will force passengers into cars and clean air in Birmingham will be worse.

I agree.

I feel this is just, first and foremost, about money. That's what governments do, local and national.

I get tired of politicians talking about how everyone should quit smoking and every person should try and give up their car. If that happened tomorrow, and everyone did so, that's a hell of a lot of lost revenue for the government. They'd certainly miss the revenue from smokers and drivers of all kinds.

It's all stick and no carrot, I feel.

I know of someone who works in healthcare. She has to drive in order to look after people in their homes. She also has to visit the city centre at times. She'll be one of countless people penalised.

It just shows an operator does not care about appearance. If they don't care about that what else do they not care about or cut corners in.

That's the golden question. What else do they not care about or cut corners in?

Laziness in one area can be found in another. Having mainly done clerical work in my life, it's no coincidence that the incompetent ones (a minority, thankfully) had extremely messy desks or were often ten minutes late for work.

As a passenger, I feel that if you can't be bothered to even provide a uniform that allows your drivers to be representatives, then who's to say you care about keeping the buses clean? Or conforming to minor regulations? Or responding to customer queries?

Now I have visions of pink string vests!

It isn't the most important thing. In theory, a company with the smartest uniforms in the world could run a bad service while a company that didn't have uniforms might run the best service.

But it's just the cowboy mindset that I find disconcerting. Not just with bus operators, but there are people in this world who just want to seem to do the bare minimum at the cheapest price - and standards be damned. That could apply to a bus operator or a fast food franchisee. When I see operators with smart uniforms and cleaner buses, it is at least part of an indication of quality.

From my perspective as a passenger.

I think it does give an unprofessional appearance.

On a deep level, I want to know that a bus operator takes the role seriously. And has a commitment to running not a decent bus service, but a good one. If he/she can't even be arsed to organise a uniform for staff, how committed are they to running a good bus service?

It feels very cowboy-like.

It manifests in different ways, different industries. Would you want to visit a fly-by-night bank who set up facilities in a grotty old shop and couldn't even be arsed to give their staff a uniform? Or an airline?

To me, a uniform, and clean buses, shows that the operator isn't a cowboy/fly-by-night operator - and takes the role seriously. I feel there have been cowboy operators (in the minority, thankfully) and a lack of uniform is just one part of what makes them stand out. I'm not saying the individual drivers are cowboys, but the operator seems to want to do everything on the cheap. And it isn't just about uniforms, clean buses are important, too. I've seen some that could use a good wash.

I miss North Birmingham Busways. Great colours, clean buses, professional drivers, smart uniforms, etc. It sets a good example.

Perry Barr is going, eh?

It does seem a shame, given the history of each garage.

Fascinating stuff, thank you.

Rather than post the same question in each garage topic, does anyone know the years when each garage opened?

(I am not lazy, I have used Wikipedia and Google, but dates seem hard to come by).

On the subject of garages, as a bus user, I will never understand how ten garages in the West Midlands could hold all the NX Midlands services. They don't even look that big from the outside. Are the garages akin to the TARDIS? Google tells me NX West Midlands has 1,600 buses. How can 10 garages hold 1,600 buses? My micro-brain can't fathom that one.  ;)

I often come across news articles pertaining to meanie railway station managers closing the bogs to taxi drivers. I think one might have been in Derby or Nottingham. Can't recall the other one. But they'd closed the bogs for black cab drivers despite them using it for years.

Bus/coach drivers and cabbies of all kinds deserve toilet facilities.

It definitely felt like "elite travel" to me given the seats, different colours and limited stops.

Thanks for the links, I shall read those now.

I do not mean to offend anyone here who may work for Discount Travel, but I have never rated them as an operator. And I have heard a few complaints about them over time.

I'm all for the small operator. I caught some Pete's Travel buses when I was young - and felt that they were a great operator. I also thought the 104X service by North Birmingham Busways was a very professional service with drivers who were very friendly.

I just don't rate Discount Travel Solutions. For anyone here who may work for them, I know a wageslip is important and every person, no matter their profession, has a mouth to feed, but I do wish they'd provided a better service.

As a kid, my family and I would travel on the 966 from Erdington to Wolverhampton, the service having the blue Timesaver livery/branding on it. Good service, loved the limited stop concept.

Does anyone know the year the Timesaver branding/livery disappeared? I have tried Googling in the past, but nothing has come up.

We didn't have a car when I was a kid so we got buses everywhere. Because that bus was a) blue, and b) a limited stop service, I guess I felt privileged.  ;)

My stepdad used to refer to the service as a "speed bus". I can't say I've heard anyone else use that terminology, was it something many people used?

Thanks in advance.