43 Worcestershire tendered routes face axe

[nitromatt1]

One possibility, if it actually happens, will certainly be of interest to the Pensnett area fan club!

PE garage to run the 318? (although can't see Hansons letting it go)?

He/she was referring to First-related changes, so wouldn't be that

[winston]

The complete list of services at risk can be found at

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/pdf/Service%20List%20-%20Contracted%20Services%20at%20Risk%20by%20Area.pdf

This is the details of the agenda for today's WCC meeting, I think it is similar to the above link previously posted, but haven't compared them:

http://worcestershire.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g304/Public%20reports%20pack%2009th-Jun-2014%2014.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

[111 Roughley]

I emailed the Council about the 192, and they said that in its case 'at least 3 days per week' was a typing error, and that the proposal was to provide a service largely as now.

[nitromatt1]

I emailed the Council about the 192, and they said that in its case 'at least 3 days per week' was a typing error, and that the proposal was to provide a service largely as now.

Thank god for that!!

[winston]

Breakdown of WCC service changes as approved at today's council meeting, not sure if any different to any of the other documents posted

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/pdf/Service-by-service%20breakdown%20of%20subsidised%20services%20plans%20post%20Cabinet%20%28June%209%29.pdf

[the trainbasher]

Looking at it it seems Only Hansons have come out of this unscathed!

[PM]

Looking at it it seems Only Hansons have come out of this unscathed!

Things don't seem anywhere near as bad as rumoured though... Most important links seem to be maintained and operators are playing a part in this in times of budget cuts. Some services are even being enhanced and I expect the new network to be more efficient, less complicated and better value for the taxpayer.

[the trainbasher]

I expect the new network to be more efficient, less complicated and better value for the taxpayer.

Hey that's my line! I thought I was the one who worked in local government! :-)

[111 Roughley]

So far it looks as though the Council has carried out a useful value for money exercise. I was disappointed with the quote from one councillor though who said that "Of those routes where we say it will be similar timetables it may go from half-an-hour to an hour, or two-hourly instead of every hour, or it may stay the same." I thought that there speaks a non-bus user. Of course some services can only be two-hourly, but to call it 'similar' is wrong, because it is hugely more inflexible for people than an hourly service. Hopefully there won't be too many such instances.
I don't think that some 'rural' services are quite the dead loss people think. Services between towns are only partly 'rural'. With some investment, some can be made to work. I live on Stagecoach's 28 route from Stratford to Evesham, every half-hour. I can't praise Stagecoach enough for their service.

[D10]

Looking at it it seems Only Hansons have come out of this unscathed!

So it seems, but it will be interesting to see who has actually won the Tenders or registered journeys commercially to see if there will be any changes to the operators of each service.

[the trainbasher]

Looking at it it seems Only Hansons have come out of this unscathed!

So it seems, but it will be interesting to see who has actually won the Tenders or registered journeys commercially to see if there will be any changes to the operators of each service.

Hansons run the majority of 318 trips commmercially anyway

[winston]

It will be interesting to see if Diamond manage to pick up any more Worcestershire area tendered routes at the expense of other operators i.e possibly additional KR tendered routes currently operated by Whittles or any on the former Woosh routes that remain after Sept i.e. Droitwich Circulars, 350 Redditch - Worcester etc

[j789]

The network may well be more streamlined and actually better for more passengers after these changes - routes that carry few passengers can now have their buses used on new initiatives. Some further changes are not highlighted in that document but new links to places may be created which will benefit passengers, even if some frequencies are reduced. This process will hopefully have given all operators the chance to review their routes and create new ones if appropriate. Certainly not all doom and gloom that the local papers like to point out.

[winston]

The network may well be more streamlined and actually better for more passengers after these changes - routes that carry few passengers can now have their buses used on new initiatives. Some further changes are not highlighted in that document but new links to places may be created which will benefit passengers, even if some frequencies are reduced. This process will hopefully have given all operators the chance to review their routes and create new ones if appropriate. Certainly not all doom and gloom that the local papers like to point out.

We'll should get more of an idea as/when registrations start to appear on VOSA over the summer

[D10]

Now the dust has settled, I thought I would take a trip round North Worcestershire to see what the situation was like regarding printed publicity such as timetables and maps.

I have to say I am pretty disappointed: I visited Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Redditch and could not find a single printed timetable in any of those towns from any operator or the council!  >:(

Worcestershire CC has been poor in that respect for years, but considering the above towns are served by amongst others Arriva, Diamond, First, Johnsons and Stagecoach, it seems like there is a lack of promotion all round.