It is too complicated (and probably too boring) to review the whole tortuous history of buses between Sheffield, Waverley and Rotherham but there is some benefit in understanding the ingredients that are thrown in assorted quantities into the bus operations mixing bowl.
From top to bottom we see:-
Rotherham suburbs of Catcliffe and Brinsworth - top right
Sheffield Business Park once an airport! - top left
Waverley Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) - centre
Waverley "village" - bottom right
Sheffield suburb of Handsworth - bottom left (just!)
Sheffield Parkway and link to M1 - bottom left to upper right
Waverley "village" is what you would expect; an assemblage of differently sized homes mainly occupied by two salaried persons with car(s) ...
... and, currently, no "community" facilities. Initial build is 750 homes.
The only shopping is warehouse style just north of the AMP including a Morrisons supermarket.
Plans have just been approved for a district centre ...
... again with all the usual suspects expected to set out their sales stalls!
fbb is intrigued by the idea of a "bus station"! The exciting retail opportunity will appear in the square of greenery between the AMP and the "village" ...
... upper left in the picture above.
The problems of providing a commercial bus service are fairly easy to understand.
Most of the residents of the "village" work elsewhere and travel by car.
Although there is plenty of employment infrastructure, actual numbers are not huge - nothing like those carried on "works services" of old.
The largest single group of potential customers are University of Sheffield students doing their stuff at the Boeing AMRC technological and research centre.
It was these students - in their cars! - whose inconsiderate parking on caused First to remove its buses from Waverley "village" itself.
The road network allows you to get a bus to Waverley via Handsworth in Sheffield, via Catcliffe in Rotherham, via the "fast" (except at peak!) Parkway and via Europa Link and the former Sheffield City Airport, now the Business Park.
Back in the halcyon days of Sheffield Transport (see yesterday's blog) there would have been a half hourly X service from the Central Bus Station via the Parkway and on from Waverley to Rotherham and, indeed something like this was implemented before housing developed; the prestigious but unsuccessful A1 (again, see a previous blog - here).
Importantly, this would have been in addition to existing local services with the aim of being in place as housing and workplaces developed.
We will look at Waverley's first "real" bus service and subsequent developments in tomorrow's blog. But to set the scene, here is an extract from a forthcoming hit musical, "The Sound of Buses"; in which the bus boss, inconsequentially disguised as the Mother Abbess ...
... sings of the problems of commercial bus operation; "How do You Solve a Problem like at Wave'ly?"
How do you solve a problem like at Wave'ly?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a route that will serve Wave'ly?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
There's houses empty in the daytime
No one waiting at the stop
Car parking blocks the way, time
tables are a feeble flop.
Business parks and warehouses need travel
But most employees go by car.
Revenue just manages to unravel
Profits sink to even less than par!
Whatever way we run our lovely buses
We never seem to get it right
With public protest, big amounts of fuss is
Making all our work a sorry sight.
I hate to have to say it;
But I very firmly feel
That Wave'ly's not an asset to the business
I'd like to say however hard I try
That Wave'ly makes me cry
How do you solve a problem like at Wave'ly?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a route that will serve Wave'ly?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
(Coming soon to this blog, a powerful ballad from the same show, "Climb ev'ry staircase, sit front top deck, follow ev'ry byway, the view is great, by 'eck!")
Next Waverley blog : Thursday 7th March
Regarding the "good old days" when a half hourly X service would have been provided to Sheffield central bus station unfortunately its not as simple as that now. Firstly its doubtful if every 30 minutes is frequent enough to attract new custom, and secondly not as many people want to go to the central bus station, or anywhere in the central area.
ReplyDeleteThe bus is great at transporting people from many points to few, but nowadays the pattern is from many points to many points. The bus operator has to decide which of those many can be grouped to make a viable service. And its no different for the local transport authority deciding what it can afford to support among so many different destinations.
I was talking to an operator recently whose Atlanteans used to line the main road in the city centre from end-to-end, busily going about their business. But those days have gone, and whilst the network has been adapted over time they are coming to the conclusion that a fresh start from a blank piece of paper is needed.
I have heard Mr Fearnly at a conference say that what First does well is move large numbers of people around a relatively small area. No surprise then that it is Arriva and GoAhead that are experimenting with demand responsive minibuses.
The buzz words are "get it now" "demand responsive" "uber style" and a bit further into the future "driverless". The bus needs to see how it can fill those needs. At the same conference at which I heard Giles, there was a lady from DfT speaking very enthusiastically about cars that will drive themselves, and there will be no car parks as the "car" (maybe more of a pod) will go off and carry its next customer. As she explained this wonderful world I was struck by how close a bus is to a self-driving car (i.e. the customer doesn't drive), and the bus goes off to serve its next customers without the worry of parking it.
The world is (has!) changing, the bus must do likewise if it is to survive. I'm sure the opportunities are there for the taking, if only we could see beyond "but that's the way we've always done it."
More nonsense. Unreadable.
ReplyDeleteSad that Anonymous (immediately above) cannot read. There are courses available for the illiterate. Maybe worth booking on to one.
ReplyDeleteYou should read Christian Wolmar on the driverless vehicle non event. It won't work. Likewise the economics of "uber" will not solve a city's transport problems. If we all use uber the traffic jams will be gridlock 24/7.
ReplyDeleteWhat IS needed is to step back from commercial operation and see the bus as a money saver in terms of road costs, air quality and road safety. Put those costs into the equation and free buses paid for from the common puirse begin to look like a real saving.
I didn't say that driverless cars or Uber taxis were the answer, but that these are the ideas which are getting lots of attention. The astute bus operator should therefore be comparing these desires with the things he can do and react accordingly. Give the market what they really want, and not what they think they want. Double deckers trundling 10 minutes apart (and occasionally nose-to-tail) along the main road into town probably won't cut it nowadays.
ReplyDeleteAs for your second point, I completely agree, and aspects of it are to be seen in Reading where the local council compares what £x,000 spend on a road scheme would achieve against what it would buy in terms of bus support. Meanwhile the Bus Services Act 2017 proves where Westminster sits on the debate; be seen to be doing something, but actually offer very, very little.