D&G Bus

[iMarkeh]

RE: D&G Bus

(02/06/2018 18:20)knutstransport Wrote:  If I understand correctly Barclays buses are free to employees but the employees pretty much fill them up and the same is true with their car parks meaning freelancers/contractors need to find their own way of getting there, plus the work shuttles go to Knutsford station and Crewe station (I've heard the latter also calls at Chelford station) so not much good for those who live in Macclesfield.

In this case, a small negotiation with Barclays could help. They could pay the money to D&G to run the Knutsford service and their staff get free passes. It should be a bit cheaper as well in that D&G would have the bus in the area for the 27, Homeswood have to travel a long way and they can't work it around their service work as their coaches will probably sit in the depot all day.

(03/06/2018 08:57)knutstransport Wrote:  There are some almost full 88 services notably the 07:15 Knutsford to Altrincham, the 07:15 Altrincham to Knutsford, the 15:35 Knutsford to Altrincham and the 15:45 Altrincham to Macclesfield. That's one reason why there's the school days only 188 service running at similar times to the 88 - the alternative would involve using a double decker as one of the 88 vehicles. However, taking a vehicle off the 88 to run the 188 services leaves a long gap between 88 services in the other direction if there's to be no 88A anymore. That'll probably cause the route to lose passengers.

Doing as you say with the 27, if you can link up all buses correctly, that would work well to do the '188' or make it part of the Longridge loop. The 88 will probably lose customers. The issue with long routes, when you have to link it to schools, it becomes really messy except 09:00-14:00 then it goes messy for the schools. I am interested to know how the 88 coped back with Arriva and GHA. I don't remember the 188 being around then or was it something to do with 300 running at the time?

(03/06/2018 08:57)knutstransport Wrote:  You'll probably be aware D&G run a Little Bus scheme for those who can't use regular public transport. That includes people who could use a bus to get to a medical appointment but wouldn't be able to carry shopping from a supermarket to the bus stop and then from the nearest bus stop to their home and their home. As a result of they already take a number of people from the Knutsford and Wilmslow area to Tescos in Handforth Dean. If those who can still use regular buses for shopping want to go to Tescos the 88/89 service stops close to both Tescos in Northwich and Tescos in Altrincham, which might be why their previous attempts to provide a regular bus to Handforth Dean have failed.

Marks and Spencer would be the most likely shop for people around that age not Tescos. If you can use regular bus services, Altrincham and Northwich are quite a distance to go to a supermarket. Though there are others locally, many people are brand loyal. I think the reasons why previous buses failed is the routes. The Spath Lane bus was a very small catchment area and quite a few people could walk under the railway line to get there so less people would use a bus when they can walk it in the same time. The 130 you are only looking at Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Colshaw Farm who would possibly use the bus to Handforth. Alderley Edge has Waitrose (which is a similar older/posh person post). Wilmslow you are basically only serving the town centre apart from one or two stops. Why would you go into town to then get a bus out of town to the shops? You go to town to go to the shops. Colshaw farm probably had a few but just not enough for it's own service.

(03/06/2018 08:57)knutstransport Wrote:  Have you actually been on a Streetlite between Altrincham, Wilmslow & Knutsford on the 88? They seem to be completely unsuited for the B5085 with drivers driving them noticeably slower than Solos on the same road and despite that the amount of rattling suggests to the average passenger they are old buses not modern ones. OK the condition of the road is not the fault of D&G or the bus but Solos (whether SRs or not) handle it much better. The only positive thing I've ever heard a passenger say about a Streetlite on the 88 relates to him not liking leather seats so liking the fact the Streetlites don't have leather seats.

I've also seen a D&G Bus breaking down a few times - each time it's been a Streetlite, never a Solo, Enviro or anything else they operate (as yet.)

I will admit, I haven't been on the B5085 section of the 88. Streetlites can fly if driven correctly. It will possibly depend partially on the driver but also the bus. I have only been on one or two streetlites before the D&G one so I can't compare much but the Link Network one flies.
I will say that Streetlites are better on roads which are in a decent condition.
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(03/06/2018 08:57)knutstransport Wrote:  It could on certain services. For instance when the 88 was consulted on one of the morning Altrincham bound services was moved to be earlier to give a better chance of school pupils getting to school on time and one of the Knutsford bound services from Macclesfield was moved slightly later as Cheshire East had originally proposed 17:35 for the last bus and a couple of people pointed out that 17:30 was a common finishing time for office jobs which wouldn't give long to make the bus, especially if that's the last bus.

That was before the tender was sent out afaik. D&G can still amend the timetable then. It goes down as an alternative bid or something like that. You can amend the tender timetable. It takes a little bit of work but there are things the council miss out. CWaCC did it twice on the C56 and the 61/62 tenders. They missed out a trip and so the bus had to go dead even though there was sufficient time for it to do a full round trip. Councils miss things. Plus the council weren't to know where changeovers would take place so they can't accommodate for it when they don't know it is happening. That is how you can amend things slightly to suit the operator's needs. D&G clearly didn't amend the timetable to suit their needs or it would have more time to carry out a proper driver changeover at Knutsford.