VERY Late running services

[John]

Both Digbeth and Moor Street are heavily congested at the minute

[Tony]

Both Digbeth and Moor Street are heavily congested at the minute

Saltley Viaduct closed
Station Road Stetchford closed
Bromford Road, Oldbury closed
Dudley Road, Cape Hill closed
Digbeth just reopened which should help Moor Street

[Liverpool Street]

Saltley Viaduct closed
Station Road Stetchford closed
Bromford Road, Oldbury closed
Dudley Road, Cape Hill closed
Digbeth just reopened which should help Moor Street

Jesus wept. AVL must have their work cut out

[Dom]

Jesus wept. AVL must have their work cut out

Actually having to answer calls, bloody hell!  ;)

[Liverpool Street]

Actually having to answer calls, bloody hell!  ;)

No comment hahaha

[AndrewLee]

Jesus wept. AVL must have their work cut out

At times like this the AVL system should be the jewel in the crown. Now, this is my opinion being a driver; speech requests go unanswered as do phone calls. Requests for emergency service assistance are ignored, often a controller will call back twenty minutes later asking if they're still required and you're there thinking help is on the way! Diversions are not put out quickly enough to warn following vehicles, it's like they don't trust information we give them.  We, drivers, are told to keep passengers informed of any situations as this helps alleviate confusion and frustration. Same goes for us drivers. If they get busy and struggle to answer calls then they should let us know.  Terribly sorry about this rant but for those on here who don't drive they should understand the struggle.

[karl724223]

Avl are a joke
Garages should take back control of there own routes having people who know where the bus goes and know the drivers

[Tony]

At times like this the AVL system should be the jewel in the crown. Now, this is my opinion being a driver; speech requests go unanswered as do phone calls. Requests for emergency service assistance are ignored, often a controller will call back twenty minutes later asking if they're still required and you're there thinking help is on the way! Diversions are not put out quickly enough to warn following vehicles, it's like they don't trust information we give them.  We, drivers, are told to keep passengers informed of any situations as this helps alleviate confusion and frustration. Same goes for us drivers. If they get busy and struggle to answer calls then they should let us know.  Terribly sorry about this rant but for those on here who don't drive they should understand the struggle.

I have sympathy for your comments, Andrew, but not for Dom who is just having a pop at people doing a job without knowing anything from either end.

As someone who has been in AVL I will back them up though.

There can be 15 people sat at those desks, but once a person takes one call, then they have to follow that up before they can take the next call.
If you radio through to say you have broken down for instance then they have to get all the details from you, then pass those details onto the engineers, then log the lost mileage (a legal requirement) before they can answer the next call. If three calls come on the screen in close succession then the third will have quite a long wait, while that is happening at times of disruption another 3 calls might appear.

[Gareth]

Saltley viaduct has reopened. Took about 45mins from town to Saltley with the backlog of traffic.

[Dom]

I have sympathy for your comments, Andrew, but not for Dom who is just having a pop at people doing a job without knowing anything from either end.

As someone who has been in AVL I will back them up though.

There can be 15 people sat at those desks, but once a person takes one call, then they have to follow that up before they can take the next call.
If you radio through to say you have broken down for instance then they have to get all the details from you, then pass those details onto the engineers, then log the lost mileage (a legal requirement) before they can answer the next call. If three calls come on the screen in close succession then the third will have quite a long wait, while that is happening at times of disruption another 3 calls might appear.

I didn't ask for sympathy @Tony. I made the comment in jest, based upon what both drivers on here say and drivers say to me away from the forum.

Of course I can understand the task that AVL face, trying to ensure over 1000 buses are running okay, thats a huge task. I also appreciate that they try their best, as I said though the comment was made it jest.

[CL]

On another note - I wouldn't call this "VERY" late - but the 101s are bunching again. At time of writing, I've left city on 4821, following 4828... Whilst another 101 is being followed by 4825 going into city. I surmise one of the latters will be a 101E?

[JoNi]

I'm always weary of people who are too busy. Two of the reasons
if AVL staff genuinely can't cope with the workload is either the system doesn't help them do their job efficiently or there are insufficient staff to cope with the number of calls received. I would expect staff to stand up for themselves if there are problems, not just blindly say "that's the way it is!"

[2206]

Saltley Viaduct closed
Station Road Stetchford closed
Bromford Road, Oldbury closed
Dudley Road, Cape Hill closed
Digbeth just reopened which should help Moor Street

Station Road, Stechford has reopened.

[AndrewLee]

I have sympathy for your comments, Andrew, but not for Dom who is just having a pop at people doing a job without knowing anything from either end.

As someone who has been in AVL I will back them up though.

There can be 15 people sat at those desks, but once a person takes one call, then they have to follow that up before they can take the next call.
If you radio through to say you have broken down for instance then they have to get all the details from you, then pass those details onto the engineers, then log the lost mileage (a legal requirement) before they can answer the next call. If three calls come on the screen in close succession then the third will have quite a long wait, while that is happening at times of disruption another 3 calls might appear.

Totally understand! Obviously AVL have their own challenges unique to job they do. I also realise things are being looked at and tweaked, for example the recent radio call options/procedure. I just think the system isn't being utilised to maximise its potential. I've been invited up by a couple of colleagues to have a look round and observe, I think I'm going to find the time and take up the offer.

[Tony]

I'm always weary of people who are too busy. Two of the reasons
if AVL staff genuinely can't cope with the workload is either the system doesn't help them do their job efficiently or there are insufficient staff to cope with the number of calls received. I would expect staff to stand up for themselves if there are problems, not just blindly say "that's the way it is!"

AVL staff can cope with the normal level of calls, and it can be better than a garage manning it, because when the garage did answer the calls there is always only one call from that garage can be answered at a time, whereas at the Black Country desk at AVL still same number of staff, 4 for 4 garages, but if all the calls come in from one garage whilst another has none then at least they can answer two at a time.

As a for instance today where drivers think they are being ignored, there was flash flooding at Cape Hill /Grove Lane this afternoon, the force of the water in the drains pushed a manhole cover up and suddenly filled the road with water.

One 82 service (4751 I think) hit the drain cover, 4 other buses got stranded. First driver to hit his call button would get answered and the controller would start the actions needed to deal with the problem, meanwhile I suspect 4 drivers are sat there thinking 'bloody AVL, never answer the radio' but in reality if he did answer all the other 4 calls all it would do is delay the actions needed for sorting the problem they were all stuck in!