Acocks Green Garage

[Tony]

@Tony is this the first time 4667 is back on the roads again? On the 4s today this bus apparently has been off the road for 2 months?

Yes, It's had an engine rebuild

[Ingleboro261F]

11A/11C terminus is such a stupid place to park the buses. I've just witnessed 5 buses with their hazards on waiting for their route, blocking traffic and other buses which have completed their route. It's so bad outside the garage that I think something has to be changed about it.

[Tony]

11A/11C terminus is such a stupid place to park the buses. I've just witnessed 5 buses with their hazards on waiting for their route, blocking traffic and other buses which have completed their route. It's so bad outside the garage that I think something has to be changed about it.

The 11A and 11C have completely different terminii

[Stu]

11A/11C terminus is such a stupid place to park the buses. I've just witnessed 5 buses with their hazards on waiting for their route, blocking traffic and other buses which have completed their route. It's so bad outside the garage that I think something has to be changed about it.

What do you propose then?

Maybe you could have a word with the Mayor to sort out traffic congestion so that late-running buses don't all arrive at the same time.

[Marge559]

What do you propose then?

Maybe you could have a word with the Mayor to sort out traffic congestion so that late-running buses don't all arrive at the same time.

Are you seriously blaming the Mayor for where the drivers are parking up their buses? I was under the impression the drivers were employed by a company called National Express!

[Stu]

Are you seriously blaming the Mayor for where the drivers are parking up their buses? I was under the impression the drivers were employed by a company called National Express!

Well the Mayor promised to make buses more reliable, and he also promised to make the 11A/C a full circular service again.  

I suppose you think it is National Express' fault that the buses on the Outer Circle all bunch together which means two or three all arrive at the terminus at the same time.

[Ingleboro261F]

The 11A and 11C have completely different terminii

Clearly not if drivers for the 11C are parking at the exact same spot as where 11A drivers park

[Marge559]

Well the Mayor promised to make buses more reliable, and he also promised to make the 11A/C a full circular service again.

I suppose you think it is National Express' fault that the buses on the Outer Circle all bunch together which means two or three all arrive at the terminus at the same time.

Well perhaps if National Express re-instated the circular service themselves, instead of waiting for the mayor to intervene (considering they lied to the public that it was a temporary measure for the commonwealth games), then those buses wouldn't have 20+ minute layovers to need to all park up outside the garage in the first place? I also fail to see what the mayor's commitment to reliability has to do with it, if buses are being parked there for such long periods then they must be arriving before they are due out on the next trips, otherwise they should be going straight back out after driver changeover, no? On an unrelated note, I would like to publicly blame Richard Parker for this weekends snow.

[ellspurs]

Perhaps the issues with the 11a/c today may have been contributed to by the limbo competition some trucks decided to have in Erdington today?

[Tony]

Well perhaps if National Express re-instated the circular service themselves, instead of waiting for the mayor to intervene (considering they lied to the public that it was a temporary measure for the commonwealth games), then those buses wouldn't have 20+ minute layovers to need to all park up outside the garage in the first place? I also fail to see what the mayor's commitment to reliability has to do with it, if buses are being parked there for such long periods then they must be arriving before they are due out on the next trips, otherwise they should be going straight back out after driver changeover, no? On an unrelated note, I would like to publicly blame Richard Parker for this weekends snow.

To reintroduce the circular service will cost a six figure sum, which would mean asking for more subsidy even before franchising (NXWM is currently making a loss so no 'profits' for that extra cost to come from.

At no point is a bus scheduled to have a 20 min layover on the road. No, they are not arriving before time, they are arriving very late, but because other drivers are also running late means the relief drivers are still on their legally required breaks.

Making the 11 a full circle again will only make the late running problems worse

[Tony]

Perhaps the issues with the 11a/c today may have been contributed to by the limbo competition some trucks decided to have in Erdington today?

Yes, two on the same bridge on the same day doesn't exactly help traffic flow

[Stu]

(considering they lied to the public that it was a temporary measure for the commonwealth games)

The roadworks in Perry Barr were causing delays to the service.

The public demanded that "something should be done". So NX split the route into two sections, in order to satisfy the public demand to 'make the service reliable'.

No-one was "lied to" and the public got what they wanted.

It was only ever intended to be a temporary measure, but as we have seen, the roadworks project in Perry Barr over-ran, and even after completion, it does not seem to have had the desired effect because there are still large amounts of traffic congestion in that area.

But even after those works completed, there were other roadworks projects undertaken along other parts of the 11A/C route.

Traffic congestion is getting worse everywhere. The 11A/C still run late most times, and you have buses bunching together even on Sundays.

[MW]

Clearly not if drivers for the 11C are parking at the exact same spot as where 11A drivers park

11Cs terminate on Fox Hollies Road and then proceed to the Fox Hollies Island to turn around and then commence 11A on Westley Road. The same point is used as a driver changeover (after a certain time) plus waiting time to depart. The 72 is also changed over at Westley Road after a certain time - I bet you didn't know that! 

This is what causes the frustrating bunch up of buses.

[jasmine]

Well perhaps if National Express re-instated the circular service themselves, instead of waiting for the mayor to intervene (considering they lied to the public that it was a temporary measure for the commonwealth games), then those buses wouldn't have 20+ minute layovers to need to all park up outside the garage in the first place? I also fail to see what the mayor's commitment to reliability has to do with it, if buses are being parked there for such long periods then they must be arriving before they are due out on the next trips, otherwise they should be going straight back out after driver changeover, no? On an unrelated note, I would like to publicly blame Richard Parker for this weekends snow.

This, this, this, this and this.

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

Well the issue as someone who occasionally uses the X51 is whoever at BCC Decided it was a sane and sensible idea to demolish the Perry Barr Flyover, the Flyover never had any Traffic on it now all that Traffic that was free to clear Perry Barr now has to sit in Perry Barr Traffic, the 11A/C are never going to recover from that plus Roadworks, the mayor proposed to make it a complete circle again because he has no idea how things like Buses and reliability work, let's spend money on making a service a full circle and making reliability worse despite the fact passengers wanted it split to be more reliable, let's throw Six figures at it that we have plucked from the magic money tree and then blame NXWM when it isn't cost effective so We can then Franchise the route and the new operator suffers the same reliability issues as the old Outer Circle did.

The 11 like most Bus routes in the Birmingham and Black Country suffer from congestion and delays there is nothing you can do anymore than NX have other than fit every single bus with Rocket Engines or Jet Engines to fly over Traffic as that seems to be the way to please everyone and even then some people still won't be happy. And that will never happen, because it isn't possible.