Social Travel

[j789]

As a (now suddenly relevant again) aside....
Has anyone tried competing on the 11 with am end to end "11E" service? Say Erdington to Acocks Green or something?

But surely that couldn't work as there would be few if any passengers in the final 20% or more at each end of the route as nobody would get on it to have to get off again and get on another bus. That would mean only potential passengers for maybe 50% of the route.

[2206]

But surely that couldn't work as there would be few if any passengers in the final 20% or more at each end of the route as nobody would get on it to have to get off again and get on another bus. That would mean only potential passengers for maybe 50% of the route.

A lot of passengers on the 11 travel short distances as its quicker to use the 11 than go through the City Centre so, it could possibly work.

[fleetline6477]

As a (now suddenly relevant again) aside....
Has anyone tried competing on the 11 with am end to end "11E" service? Say Erdington to Acocks Green or something?

Yes, Birmingham Motor Traction ran 11E Perry Barr (One Stop) to Acocks Green via Erdington, Yardley.

Birmingham Coach Company ran 11E Selly Oak - Perry Barr (I think) via Bearwood

One of the Thandi companies ran 11P Bearwood via 82 route to Summerfield Park then 11 route to Perry Barr (One Stop)

[646]

Good luck Antisocial Travel!

[Stuharris 6360]

Am a bit surprised at @Steveminor attitude to this.

Obviously cancelling the 74 after such a small amount of time was going to cause an outcry on here because it appears that the route simply hasn't been given a chance. It's another example of a service not being allowed to blossom, if you open a shop on the High Street, you don't close it a few days later because you have few customers. You give it a few weeks if not months. Sorry the traffic problems don't make sense with me because the tc would be aware of them as they would affect other operators and would make allowances for it.

And to reregister the 11 again to me is just plain daft, if Social were doing so well on there, why didn't they continue to operate it.

Why don't Social think up a route of there own which provides new links for customers that are at the moment not provided, instead of just running on ther operators routes?

[2206]

And to reregister the 11 again to me is just plain daft, if Social were doing so well on there, why didn't they continue to operate it.

It was said earlier on in this thread that they came of it because they wanted to provide there own service. (the 74A and S74)

Yes adam you are correct although they are related all three companies are run separate from each other.
However it's not just bus companies that the brothers own they also own other business's, so they are not solely reliant on the income the buses generate..
The only route social travel have come off was the 97.
Yes we have now withdrawn the 11 & 71. The 71 for operational reasons the 11 because we want to provide our own service.
yes we could have just altered the 74 but that is doing fine & remember the rule if it ain't broken don't try & fix it.

[LG]

The main problem here for Social Travel is that they picked a well established Arriva route.  Also Arriva have stuck to their guns and have prepared timetables to cope with traffic delays.

Honestly though I dont believe the cancellation to be anything to do with traffic delays as I have witnessed first hand passengers are prefering to use Arriva

[Steveminor]

Where it comes from is arriva have decide to run shuttle service from stafford to the university leaving the 74 to only run a short route this is not a legal registration as the registration calls for a service to run from cannock to the university not to sit a bus at the college wait for social travel to turn up the run off & take the passengers whilst the main bus sits in gaol square collecting passengers waiting for social travel to turn up. The excuse is because of traffic! Well that is still not legal but we're getting it in the neck for NOT running an extra illegal bus. Well we don't have anymore o discs but this has held no water. One rule for one one rule for arriva. Add that to the fact that despite evidence to the tc arriva have continuously run off time & extra buses unchallenged whilst we get our ear bent for running 11 mins late a few times. Arriva have changed times with 2 weeks notice ( supposed to be a minimum of 3 weeks) whilst even with a letter of support from the council we can't start a desperately required service with less than 56 days notice. Plus the cancellation document was only posted yesterday afternoon and yet it's already been accepted this morning. Something smells rotten & I want no part of that.
Anyway I also have to consider my drivers who are unhappy at arriving back at the depot more than 2 hours late because of the rad ford bank traffic & I can't give them any assurances until after September. Well it's not one thing not two things but several things. I have to look after the best interests of the company & staff under my care. Not enthusiasts that may or may not want social to run a specific service.

Yes it's been a hard decision to make & has been made very quickly but let me ask you all, if you had a knife in your hand would you get it removed straight away or would you leave it there for a while incase the pain went away & it eventually got better.

[646]

Where it comes from is arriva have decide to run shuttle service from stafford to the university leaving the 74 to only run a short route this is not a legal registration as the registration calls for a service to run from cannock to the university not to sit a bus at the college wait for social travel to turn up the run off & take the passengers whilst the main bus sits in gaol square collecting passengers waiting for social travel to turn up. The excuse is because of traffic! Well that is still not legal but we're getting it in the neck for NOT running an extra illegal bus. Well we don't have anymore o discs but this has held no water. One rule for one one rule for arriva. Add that to the fact that despite evidence to the tc arriva have continuously run off time & extra buses unchallenged whilst we get our ear bent for running 11 mins late a few times. Arriva have changed times with 2 weeks notice ( supposed to be a minimum of 3 weeks) whilst even with a letter of support from the council we can't start a desperately required service with less than 56 days notice. Plus the cancellation document was only posted yesterday afternoon and yet it's already been accepted this morning. Something smells rotten & I want no part of that.
Anyway I also have to consider my drivers who are unhappy at arriving back at the depot more than 2 hours late because of the rad ford bank traffic & I can't give them any assurances until after September. Well it's not one thing not two things but several things. I have to look after the best interests of the company & staff under my care. Not enthusiasts that may or may not want social to run a specific service.

Yes it's been a hard decision to make & has been made very quickly but let me ask you all, if you had a knife in your hand would you get it removed straight away or would you leave it there for a while incase the pain went away & it eventually got better.

Sounds ill-planned and ill-executed and not at all out of line with your previous endeavours and incarnations.

[Steveminor]

All respects you have no idea so don't comment

[Steveminor]

Besides look at my sunny travel & discount travel operations which have both increased age profile & now with dts increased licence capacity. So don't bring my personal competence into this.

[646]

Besides look at my sunny travel & discount travel operations which have both increased age profile & now with dts increased licence capacity. So don't bring my personal competence into this.

Whatever next? An identity? Or perhaps something sustained and original?

[Adam 404]

Where it comes from is arriva have decide to run shuttle service from stafford to the university leaving the 74 to only run a short route this is not a legal registration as the registration calls for a service to run from cannock to the university not to sit a bus at the college wait for social travel to turn up the run off & take the passengers whilst the main bus sits in gaol square collecting passengers waiting for social travel to turn up. The excuse is because of traffic! Well that is still not legal but we're getting it in the neck for NOT running an extra illegal bus. Well we don't have anymore o discs but this has held no water. One rule for one one rule for arriva. Add that to the fact that despite evidence to the tc arriva have continuously run off time & extra buses unchallenged whilst we get our ear bent for running 11 mins late a few times. Arriva have changed times with 2 weeks notice ( supposed to be a minimum of 3 weeks) whilst even with a letter of support from the council we can't start a desperately required service with less than 56 days notice. Plus the cancellation document was only posted yesterday afternoon and yet it's already been accepted this morning. Something smells rotten & I want no part of that.
Anyway I also have to consider my drivers who are unhappy at arriving back at the depot more than 2 hours late because of the rad ford bank traffic & I can't give them any assurances until after September. Well it's not one thing not two things but several things. I have to look after the best interests of the company & staff under my care. Not enthusiasts that may or may not want social to run a specific service.

Yes it's been a hard decision to make & has been made very quickly but let me ask you all, if you had a knife in your hand would you get it removed straight away or would you leave it there for a while incase the pain went away & it eventually got better.

Are you suggesting that the TC is rigged @Steveminor ? I agree that it does seem suspicious but it won't help you in future registration if you are throwing these accusations out... I hope that your old 11 customers, if there was any, rejoin Social Travel. But there is ofcourse no guarantee of customer loyalty on many routes. @Steveminor has tried his best with the 74's and if it can't happen, that's the way it goes. It is also good to know of a Manager who has took Drivers into account unlike what rumours from Diamond which are flowing out at the moment...

[LG]

Surely if Arriva were doing something illegal with running a shuttle the TC would be breathing down their necks too??

Only they continue to do this so obviously this is acceptable to the TC under these circumstances around the roadworks

[LG]

..........] has tried his best with the 74's and if it can't happen, that's the way it goes. It is also good to know of a Manager who has took Drivers into account unlike what rumours from Diamond which are flowing out at the moment...
[/quote]

I agree that this is a good decision based on drivers feedback