Vehicles seen in service, but not showing on bus times

[Jack]

6798 not tracking on the 33.

[Tony]

6798 not tracking on the 33.

Tracking OK at the moment

[2206]

Is Pensnett 6930 tracking properly, sure this was on the 9 today in City at about 15:35?

[wulfrun]

I do a full check on the whole fleet approximately once every two weeks, but ones reported on here get reported normally the next day, so it helps get them sorted quicker.

Thanks Tony.

4458 appears to be doing ok.

Add 845, 4312, 4561 to your list, as these vehicles appear to have issues broadcasting the correct Service and Journey Numbers.

[wulfrun]

I make that a 0.27% failure across the whole fleet - making that a 99.73% operational success.

The four buses (4458,6780,6787,6793) are located at Park Lane Garage, where the PL fleet size to operate the 30 services into Wolverhampton City Centre on mon-fri schedule would imply around 2.4% of the fleet is not tracking. 

Translate that into journeys, with all four in service, depending what board is worked, could amount to around 3.1% of journeys on city's network not tracking.

Add 4312 and 845 to the list, and that rises to 3.5% vehicles failing to track, with around 4.7% journeys not tracking, enough for an entire route plus a few interworked journeys to be offline for a day.

Hardly a major concern to the average passenger, is it?

Isn't it?

Trackers play a vital role in public transport management, not just to help operators monitor their own vehicles.

The Bus Services Act 2017 requires operators of local bus services in England to publish data to the Bus Open Data Service (BODS). This is what the Government is for. Providing the legislative framework to ensure information that was not available in the public domain, can be gathered at source, to be made available free of charge to anyone who wishes to use that information to improve bus services.

From 7th Jan 2021, it is a requirement for all operators in England to publish their vehicle locations to BODS.

Not only are passengers inconvenienced by faulty trackers, but so are the systems that tap into BOD feeds, to analyse the data to produce statistical reports, for example, monitor journey times, number and types of vehicles used, seat capacity during the day, etc. where the data acquired must meet certain tolerances, in order for the statistics to be valid.

The margin for error created by the four PL buses I highlighted can provide the difference to take NX under/over the AQPS emission compliance threshold for journeys into Wolverhampton AQPS Zone for a mon-fri schedule, where in response to a need for NX to cut operating costs, due to a fall in revenue and patronage, that resulted in a 10% cut in bus NX journeys across Wolverhampton applied in Autumn 2021, has changed the dynamics of the network and the vehicles required to fulfil the schedule, where trackers supply the evidence.

Given the Traffic Commissioner provides a window of tolerance for commercial operators in England to provide 95% of their scheduled service to operate between 1min early and 5 min late, why is this target not being met on PL Platinum routes?

Last week for D8,X8,529 of the % scheduled logged, that is a bus in service irrespective if late or not:
Jan :D8,X8,529 %
17  :92,84,86
18  :78,85,89
19  :87,90,78
20*:77,77,82
21*:58,49,60
22  :89,87,81
* NX BOD feed suspended between 20:00-10:50 20th-21st.

A lack of vehicles?

A company policy that provides a dedicated pool of staff for the fleet, that is in short supply due to the number of Platinum drivers self isolating after testing positive for COVID, where a conventional bus + driver is not available to cover?

Or the services are missing due to PL buses fitted with faulty bus trackers, where each tracker fitted ensures NX receives additional 2% Bus Service Operators Grant from UK Gov?

These are important issues for organisations compiling stats independent from the operator, thanks to UK Gov BODS initiative. Stats that could also be used to support or counter claims made by the operator(s) to ensure services are improved.

Also, you DON'T have to report this on a public forum, you have chosen to.

What I am trying to point out is that I don't understand why trackers, a vital piece of equipment for the reasons mentioned, are being left faulty for days, some months on end, where the fix to 4458 was applied mid journey, the day after I reported the fault here - on a public forum - because the device had been left faulty for 12 days broadcasting incorrect information, that is being fed into a myriad of systems using the NX BOD feed. Where if left, 4458 would have continued to malfunction until Tony got round to doing the entire fleet, that contains PL Platinum 6780 and 6793, which are still offline after many months.

Tony checks these as a courtesy, not a requisite, for which we are very grateful.

I am not criticising Tony, I think he is being let down by his employer, or by the contractors who supply/maintain the trackers.

NX don't appear to appreciate the problem or have a proper strategy in place to provide their staff with the necessary tools and procedures to get the job done properly.

Because no-one sits there staring at 1500 vehicles waiting for one to fail.

I totally agree, the idea that someone is watching over 1500 trackers waiting for one to fail is ludicrous, as is waiting 2 weeks to do a full fleet check to see if any have failed, while bus enthusiasts, who hunt for buses as part of their hobby, can use this forum to report issues they find with trackers using the likes of bustimes.org.

I'm sure this service reduces the number of faulty trackers that enhances the passenger experience.

West Midlands Travel Ltd. is a company with a multimillion-pound turn over, that spends millions of pounds (our bus fares) on the likes of Traffilog and CitySwift - but relies on bus enthusiasts via this website to provide up-to-date intel on the vehicles that have issues tracking?

All trackers should be pinged at regular intervals by a central server to check their status. If an error is detected, an SMS message or email would be sent from the server to alert the persons required to bring the faulty tracker back online ASAP. If the device needs hardware attention, the relevant Garage is notified, to ensure when the bus returns, the device is serviced to ensure it is working before the vehicle enters service the next day.

And which jobs are under threat pending the Stagecoach merger? The IT jobs at NX Digbeth HQ.

[Tony]

The longest missing bus of the tracking system, 4496, has now woken up. The problem was caused by voltage errors which are not two minute jobs to either trace or fix and is the reason for most of the longer term missing ones. The majority just need a message sent remotely from the tracker company to wake up and normally do the same day as they are reported

[busboy31]

And 6924 as well.

[Tony]

And 6924 as well.

6924 is under repair at Alexander Dennis

[Jack]

And 6924 as well.

E011 hasn't tracked for a very long time, presumably same issue as 4496.

[Tony]

E011 hasn't tracked for a very long time, presumably same issue as 4496.

That one is different as it is tracking it location, so the device is working, but it is not sending the ticket machine information through. It has not been on the road, or even in the West Midlands for a lot of the time it hasn't tracked, making it impossible for the engineers from Traffilog to visit it.

[DJ]

2140 seemed to be tracking fine yesterday and this morning, but it's stopped again today on the 11/11A.

[busboy31]

Is Pensnett 6930 tracking properly, sure this was on the 9 today in City at about 15:35?

Don't think it is......

[Michael Bevan]

1834 is not tracking on the 4's today.

[DJ]

1834 is not tracking on the 4's today.

Probably by design, it'll reduce the amount of tents at the roadside!  ::)

[Westy]

Probably by design, it'll reduce the amount of tents at the roadside!  ::)

Mind you, compared to 4601, it stands a better chance of being seen on more of Walsall's services surely, certainly the Bradford Place services?