Old Bus Routes

[fleetline6477]

MRW also ran the 682 (now 62/62A) Wolves town centre to Compton via Asda and Dunstall when it replaced the previous free bus to the new Asda in Wolves which had been operated by Classic Coaches of Wombourne in the late 1990s but I'm not sure if they still had it in 1999.

Zaks run the 682 for many years, using Finchfield as a destination, if I remember correctly.

[sryan188]

Anyone got any bus route maps of Wolverhampton from the 2000's? Would be great to have the City Centre too, map of the old Bus Station and what routes stopped where

I have this Wolverhampton map from July 1998. Had to compress to upload.

[Rachvince53]

Looking on the list of bus routes (and numbers), its amazing to see how things have changed with the complete loss of night services and the bus route(s) across Penn Common and to Bobbington.

[Celestial Toymaker]

Back in 1975 Dial-A-Bus was trialed between Dorridge & Knowle, later extended to Solihull, the whole thing died a death in 1980, people didnt want to take 30 minutes to get to knowle when they could get a 182 that did it in 10 minutes, some people even walked, however, this is my question and probably in the wrong place

Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ? 
athough for lesser abled people
it picks you up at  your door, takes you exactly where you wanna go (to the door)  takes forever to get there but its CHEAP & The Buses (more like vans) are knackered

i recently had a ride on a 17 reg, the driver had to rev the nuts off just to keep it going, with only 3 passengers on board, anyway the question was Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ? 

[Westy]

Back in 1975 Dial-A-Bus was trialed between Dorridge & Knowle, later extended to Solihull, the whole thing died a death in 1980, people didnt want to take 30 minutes to get to knowle when they could get a 182 that did it in 10 minutes, some people even walked, however, this is my question and probably in the wrong place

Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ?
athough for lesser abled people
it picks you up at  your door, takes you exactly where you wanna go (to the door)  takes forever to get there but its CHEAP & The Buses (more like vans) are knackered

i recently had a ride on a 17 reg, the driver had to rev the nuts off just to keep it going, with only 3 passengers on board, anyway the question was Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ? 

Wasnt Dial A Bus a Jasper Carrott routine?

[Celestial Toymaker]

it was real i assure you operated by 8 Ford Alexander S Midibuses 4730 - 4737 JOV 730P etc assisted by 2 Commer Walkthroughs 4238 & 4241 EOF 238L / EOF 241L

[Steve3229vp]

it was real i assure you operated by 8 Ford Alexander S Midibuses 4730 - 4737 JOV 730P etc assisted by 2 Commer Walkthroughs 4238 & 4241 EOF 238L / EOF 241L

The five short National 2's (7048-7052) were originally for Dial A Bus, but went to PB for the old 39 route (City-Witton) before finding the perfect route which was the 101 (Centrebus)

[Celestial Toymaker]

The five short National 2's (7048-7052) were originally for Dial A Bus, but went to PB for the old 39 route (City-Witton) before finding the perfect route which was the 101 (Centrebus)

they did eventually use anything that was handy, Single deck Fleetlines, Leyland Nationals 4475, 6829 & 6830 then 7018 to 7026 when new, the national 2 was perfect but too late, 4475 etc had a problem with the fish tail exhaust when turning left for the D1 under the bridge that why the Nat 2 was used instead

[Rachvince53]

Back in 1975 Dial-A-Bus was trialed between Dorridge & Knowle, later extended to Solihull, the whole thing died a death in 1980, people didnt want to take 30 minutes to get to knowle when they could get a 182 that did it in 10 minutes, some people even walked, however, this is my question and probably in the wrong place

Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ?
athough for lesser abled people
it picks you up at  your door, takes you exactly where you wanna go (to the door)  takes forever to get there but its CHEAP & The Buses (more like vans) are knackered

i recently had a ride on a 17 reg, the driver had to rev the nuts off just to keep it going, with only 3 passengers on board, anyway the question was Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ? 

Yes. Operated by ATG (part of National Express Group), the Ring & Ride service is basically the same as Dial-a-Ride. Ring & Ride mostly uses the vehicles inherited from  WMSNT I believe. 

[Stu]

Back in 1975 Dial-A-Bus was trialed between Dorridge & Knowle, later extended to Solihull, the whole thing died a death in 1980, people didnt want to take 30 minutes to get to knowle when they could get a 182 that did it in 10 minutes, some people even walked, however, this is my question and probably in the wrong place

Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ?
athough for lesser abled people
it picks you up at  your door, takes you exactly where you wanna go (to the door)  takes forever to get there but its CHEAP & The Buses (more like vans) are knackered

i recently had a ride on a 17 reg, the driver had to rev the nuts off just to keep it going, with only 3 passengers on board, anyway the question was Isnt Ring & Ride a modified version of Dial-A-Bus ? 

"Dial-A-Bus" sounds to me what is now called "Demand Responsive Transport" (DRT)

Only nowadays it's all booked through 'apps' on mobile devices. Many local authorities across the UK have been racing to set these up in the last few years, at huge costs, using BSIP money, replacing many lesser used 'fixed' bus routes, yet very few are successful and most come to an end once the initial funding runs out, due to lack of use or just proving too expensive to run.

Roger French writes extensively about his own experiences of these DRT schemes on his blog:
https://busandtrainuser.com/a-short-history-of-drt/

[don]

they did eventually use anything that was handy, Single deck Fleetlines, Leyland Nationals 4475, 6829 & 6830 then 7018 to 7026 when new, the national 2 was perfect but too late, 4475 etc had a problem with the fish tail exhaust when turning left for the D1 under the bridge that why the Nat 2 was used instead

The Centrebus originally threaded itself through various pedestrianised streets (eg Union Street) and operated by 6 Commer minibuses in standard PTE livery, later changed to bright orange (4236-41 EOF236L etc). The route was modified and became much more useful, and much more heavily used such as it outgrew the minibuses. They were replaced with a batch of ex BCT Fleetline single deckers. The Commers were used as cover in certain situations after this 

As @Celestial Toymaker has said, the short Nationals were purchased to replace the dial a bus Fords, which were unreliable. However the dial a bus experiment was replaced by various new normal routes and the Nationals were sent to PB for the 39, and then replaced the time expired Fleetlines on the Centrebus service at least up to deregulation. AG did receive a batch of new standard Nationals (7018 onwards) which were used at Solihull, rather than the short ones originally intended. 

[Tony]

Yes. Operated by ATG (part of National Express Group), the Ring & Ride service is basically the same as Dial-a-Ride. Ring & Ride mostly uses the vehicles inherited from  WMSNT I believe.

ATG was never part of National Express. It was the company that went insolvent that NX bought the assets from

[Rachvince53]

ATG was never part of National Express. It was the company that went insolvent that NX bought the assets from

Sorry, my mistake.  Thanks.