Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[mr t]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Given most of the bars and clubs shut at 3/4am and there are more open til 6, then I cant see many people using any of these en masse if the last ones are at 3am! The only time people would think about it is if they are literally only staying out for "an hour or 2" in town which is very rare these days.
I had a discussion a few years back with an Arriva representative and they said the only night buses that were busy in recent years were the ones between 4 and 5am, and that is why they all got culled - they had to pay a bus/driver all night, and the early nightime ones would run around empty, then only after 4am would the vehicle be full, but by then they had to pay for 4 hours worth of journeys which had not been profitable, which then makes the whole service unprofitable and hence why Arriva then withdrew them - so yes it might look like they are making a killing when you went home but the other journeys had all been empty prior to you using it. This is why towards the ends on all night buses they first tried reducing frequencies and taking buses out to save costs, but it still failed. Drivers get paid circa £30 an hour, plus diesel, plus paying for security at QS, so hence the £4 fare, but still a hell of a lot lower than taxis, but yes not as low as a group of people getting a taxi home between them - so it is not Arrivas fault for pricing themselves out of the market. Times and markets change.
Ace only had a little bus running back and forth to Birkenhead, with no security, so obviously costs were a hell of a lot lower, so they only needed around 8-10 passengers an hour to pay their costs, then when Merseytravel tried a replacement supported service it wasnt deemed payable as we all know - so imagine if these 8 people actually used the 1, or these other ones at Xmas, or indeed any of the previous night services, they would never ever end up being profitable.