First Manchester

[Mayneway]

RE: First Manchester

(19/12/2012 14:27)james Wrote:  

(13/12/2012 18:18)Mayneway Wrote:  I noticed a Pioneer Solo on a school service in Ashton one afternoon last week and was quite surprised by it, when at the same time an Arrow was in the bus station on a 333. Yet more crazy allocating from First.

hi guys not been on in awhile but the solo in ashton on a school there is now 2 duties which infill as peak 348 and 350`s they come off 734 and another school but the spec on this route is officially a decker the demand side allocates it as a dart or solo because the 734 takes about 20 kids to droylsden. and the other is a copley or a saddleworth school if memory serves me right again low usage service (30 kids average) so if there isnt deckers available they will put solos on more often than not now because they can free up deckers for other high usage vehicles i.e the 333 comes off a 346 which gets hit by kids from astley and all saints schools and a dart/solo isnt suffice capacity so that has to be a decker service
there arrows left are norm on 346/393 * 1 and other on runarounds 346-333-331-389

it all boils down to in the daytime there is 1 maybe 2 deckers in depot where there is 6 darts/solos spare so if a deckers service has problems that needs a bus swap there wouldnt be any spares suitable. (ignore the tfgm schools spec for 734 + 820 there not accurate)
if unclear just ask me

The Solo i saw last week on a school looked to have a lot more than 20 kids on. If more than a handful of kids are standing then clearly a bigger bus should surly be used. Having said that its not just First. I notice M Travel and GB Coaches using small Darts on school services and again many of the kids are forced to stand. Very poor in my opinion.