Nothing has happened!
Back in March, when fbb started this blog lark, he reported on the announcement that "it had been agreed" that Stagecoach and Citybus would be "co-operating" in Oxford. The implication was that from August 2010 the cutthroat wall-to-wall buses breathing their noxious fumes amongst the gleaming spires of academe would be replaced with shiny new double deck "greener" buses sharing the trade in equal proportions.
And greener buses have appeared; Stagecoach "hybrid" buses painted shades of green.
But what of timetable co-operation? A quick look at the websites of each "partner" reveals little or no evidence of the "all pals together" project. For example, Go Ahead [City Bus] runs service 2 and variants every few minutes between the City and Kidlington ...
... and Stageocach runs service 7 and variants on almost identical routes.
Maps reveal how identical they are; firstly, City Bus ...
... and then, Stagecoach!
Not a lot to choose between the two.
The question is, "Do the residents of Kidlington need a bus every 2.5 minutes?" According to two Oxford bus users (both friends of fbb), the road is hopelessly over-bussed! Unless passengers are regular "commuters", the general policy is to get on the first bus that comes, whichever operator it is.
Oxford bus-gestion!
So working together and reducing congestion, emissions and general "yuk" seems a really sensible idea. So why hasn't it happened? Answers on a postcard, please to ...
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