One this is abundantly clear in this harsh time of crisis and mixed messages. Public Transport Information is in an even bigger mess than it was before the lockdown cutback don't travel policy was implemented.
Being (a) old and (b) a contented codger, the lockdown is not as depressing as it must be for those who really need to work, who are struggling with kiddies at home and why desperately need as pint with the lads.
fbb misses going to real church although the on-line service and Zoom chat are companionable and helpful. He misses the intellectual (?) challenge of preparing and delivering the fortnightly Bible Study, ditto the monthly Sunday's Best get together.
But, basically and mentally, lockdown is not a problem. Praise the Lord.
But how goes it if you need to travel and you need to use public transport?
In sunny Seaton we know that Axe Valley Travel closed down at the very beginning of the crisis and no Axe Valley timetables appear on Traveline. Instead of using the 885 you can still get from Seaton to Axminster according to the deep throat conmputer.
You go to Honiton on Dartline's 20, nip smartly up the road to the station and catch the train.
The two hourly train service looks correct.
Equally, should you want to go from Bletchley to Ridgmont on the Masrston Vale rail line, you can't! The service is withdrawn and Traveline confirms this.
What about the advertised replacement bus service? No indication of such and the London North Western Railway web site confirms ...
Bedford – Bletchley (Marston Vale) – rail replacement bus service until Friday 10 April. Please email us at keyworkers@wmtrains.co.uk if you are a key worker that relies on this service beyond this date. We need to understand your travel requirements.
... that this ceased almost as soon as it had started.
You can make the journey by bus - it seems ...
... with the time for service 4 being from the temporary timetable ...
... as is Grant Palmer's 34.
So far, then, it has been all on line. Correctly.
But let us now amble from Bletchley to Northampton and assume that a journey to the territory of our Northampton correspondent is justifiable under the lockdown.
And we don't have access to a car - and it is too far to cycle and much to far to walk! Train from Bletchley to Northampton is less frequent than before but no problem.
Traveline again from Northampton to New Duston:-
Goody, we can take a 9 ...
... or a 9A.
If we extrapolate the times we might assume that there is a bus every 10 minutes, but to confirm we whisk excitedly and in eager anticipation to the Stagecoach web site.
service 9?
Nothing about Northampton at all.
Yer what? Check the Stagecoach map!
Try again, inspired by Traveline, and check the 9A ...
... which doesn't exist.
In passing you do wonder about the skills of Stagecoach's web designers. You make sure "Northampton" is in the area search box, yet the system delivers services for Bedford, Hitchin and Nuneaton, none of which have anything to do with Northampton. It even says "Results in Northampton" when they palpably aren't.
But let us now amble from Bletchley to Northampton and assume that a journey to the territory of our Northampton correspondent is justifiable under the lockdown.
And we don't have access to a car - and it is too far to cycle and much to far to walk! Train from Bletchley to Northampton is less frequent than before but no problem.
Traveline again from Northampton to New Duston:-
Goody, we can take a 9 ...
... or a 9A.
service 9?
Yer what? Check the Stagecoach map!
In passing you do wonder about the skills of Stagecoach's web designers. You make sure "Northampton" is in the area search box, yet the system delivers services for Bedford, Hitchin and Nuneaton, none of which have anything to do with Northampton. It even says "Results in Northampton" when they palpably aren't.
.
Hey, there is a 9B on the map.
So ask for 9B, but, bearing in mind you have already been offered a 9B Bedford to Hitchin, your hopes are not high.
Yippee - a bus which might get you to Duston.
The 9B is the Sunday version of 9/9A now operating seven days a week. In a past blog fbb has included a real 9B timetable, printed, on paper (ask an elderly relative what "printed" and "paper" mean) and posted at bus stops.
So Traveline is
Bus operators will do their best to keep their services running to support communities, businesses and key workers. Keeping buses and other vehicles clean and making sure staff have good hand hygeine (hygiene - fbb, corretions to me before the end of school today!) is a priority.
Because there will be fewer people travelling on their services, many bus and other transport operators will be running fewer journeys each day from March 23rd. For buses, this is likely to mean that Saturday or Sunday type timetables may now run Monday to Friday instead of the usual more frequent weekday services.
That's not much use!
There could be many reasons why Traveline has become utterly unreliable.
(a) not enough staff (self isolation etc)
(b) not getting the information from bus companies [as (a) above?]
(c) can't be bothered to get it right - people shouldn't be travelling anyway
(d) treating present cut-backs as "temporary", soon back to normal
But it certainly isn't "all on (Trave)line".
In view of the above, tomorrow we will look at first's improvements from Monday last, paying particular attention to how the public might get to know what was happeneing.
Hey, there is a 9B on the map.
So ask for 9B, but, bearing in mind you have already been offered a 9B Bedford to Hitchin, your hopes are not high.
So Traveline is
USELESS
... in the Northampton area.
This system costs millions of pounds a year to provide and requires a small army of staff to operate it. We, the customer/taxpayer are shelling out our hard-earned (or less hard furloughed) cash for a service which is totally unreliable.
How do Traveline's customers know which bits are right?
What is Traveline's advice?
Because there will be fewer people travelling on their services, many bus and other transport operators will be running fewer journeys each day from March 23rd. For buses, this is likely to mean that Saturday or Sunday type timetables may now run Monday to Friday instead of the usual more frequent weekday services.
That's not much use!
There could be many reasons why Traveline has become utterly unreliable.
(a) not enough staff (self isolation etc)
(b) not getting the information from bus companies [as (a) above?]
(c) can't be bothered to get it right - people shouldn't be travelling anyway
(d) treating present cut-backs as "temporary", soon back to normal
But it certainly isn't "all on (Trave)line".
In view of the above, tomorrow we will look at first's improvements from Monday last, paying particular attention to how the public might get to know what was happeneing.
Next "not Quite" blog : Thursday 14th May
Traveline isn't, at least in most cases, responsible for uploading data, they are the host. The data is prepared and submitted by the local council so generally speaking it will be the local county/unitary authority and in my experience a single member of staff at said authority who handle this so if they are sick/unavailable it all falls apart (& with changes happening with a few days notice you can't plan round it as you normally would). On top of this Northants CC have been in dire financial straits in recent years which can't help staffing etc which may well mean their entire system is struggling in the current environment.
ReplyDeleteCuriously the official newly-issued guidance for passengers from government (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers)to planning your journey by bus, coach, tram or ferry points to bustimes.org rather than Traveline!
ReplyDeleteIt must have been changed as the link now seems to point to Traveling.
DeleteTraveline wasn't set up to cope with every operator changing its services every week, and it isn't reasonable to expect it to be able to.
ReplyDeleteFaced with this situation, Derbyshire replaced its timetable page with:
"Bus services in Derbyshire have been significantly reduced because of the Coronavirus emergency. Unless your journey is essential you should heed the Government’s advice and stay at home. Intending passengers are strongly advised to check operators’ websites shown below, prior to travel, for the latest information on bus services and bus timetables." I think they work on the principle that if you dont know who operates your service, then your journey isn't essential.
Most operators, including Stagecoach Northampton, have "Coronovirus Update" on their home page which takes you to current emergency timetables. You don't search for a timetable from the home page, as this may not have been altered - it seems to depend on the operator.
Four clicks from the Stagecoach homepage: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/midlands/government-coronavirus-measures--changes-to-bus-services-nton
ReplyDeleteNot difficult.
I'm not really sure what is the point of this piece. FBB is right that not all the latest information is on Traveline - but Traveline say as much and explain why in the paragraphs following the bit of text FBB selectively quotes above. Presumably FBB read this also but omitted it in favour of point scoring.
ReplyDeleteTraveline, quite reasonably to my mind, is pointing people to operator's websites and Twitter feeds for the latest travel information. This seems sensible given the current ever and fast changing situation.
The Government's advice at the moment is to "Consider all other forms of transport before using public transport." Given this I think Traveline's approach seems pragmatic and reasonable (unlike FBB).
This is the standard FBB rant - using the internet to complain about the internet!!
ReplyDeleteAs has been so adroitly said by others, the issues are not as FBB has pointed out. More importantly, were it not for the internet, what would FBB expect to happen in a period of ever changing timetables as services were reduced and reduced again and are now beginning to be reintroduced? A weekly printed issue of every timetable to be made available for key workers?