How We All Remember Quality Music!
But seriously folk!
In 2016 the Mersyside Quality Bus Partnership was created.
The "agrement" was between the PTE (Merseytravel) and the two principal operators, Stagecoach and Arriva.
The Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance sees a commitment from operators to provide modern bus fleets with an average age of no more than seven years. Passengers will benefit from improved smart ticketing, wireless internet access and USB mobile device charging points on all new buses.
The formal signing of the Bus Alliance agreement also releases Government funding for low emissions vehicles of £4.7m, the single biggest award out of the last round of funding in July, for 72 new, greener buses across the City Region.
The two operators will partner on marketing campaigns, cleaning and customer service training. The agreement promises improved links to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and a new night bus service will continue to be piloted.
Both operators will also sign up to clearly defined targets around punctuality and passenger satisfaction.
Route 10 from liverpool to St Helens is listed on the PTE site as one of the partnership routes.
We are reminded what the "partnership" means in practice.
BUT! We are not going to tell you WHICH fares are inter-available, so there!
A quick look through the web sites reveals the following.
Merseytravel (the PTE) has a bus one day ticket (amongst many others) ...
Stagecoach has a network map showing only Stagecoach services ...
... with a 10A to St Helens in a rather insipid grey-blue.
The only Arriva map fbb could find was this ...
...which is of no use whatsoever.
The PTE offers four maps covering the whole of its area ...
.... and they are more than adequate for finding your way around.
We have the city end of the routes via Knotty Ash ...
... and the continuation to "over the border" with the St Helens map
From these maps we learn that the service 15 joins the rest at Knotty Ash and runs to Huyton; and that the 7 continues to Warrington. The 10B follows a different and less direct route to Huyton from Knotty Ash, going a bit further than the town centre, whilst the 10 and 10A follow different routes on their way to St Helens.
The 8 and 9 (Huyton Circulars) do slightly different gyrations in the Huyton area.
So don't expect the operators to show the partnership PTE map!
So, as far as the 10, 10A and 10B group of services, and their involvement in the noble and passenger-service Quality Partnership, we have no partnership in fares and no partnership in maps.
So what about the timetables.
Arriva provides us with seven buses an hour ...
... four 10A trips and three 10s.
The 10B to Huyton is a simple "every ten minutes".
Meanwhile partner Stagecoach (bringing improved services to the public, remember?) ...
... supplies a half hourly (roughly) 10A which isn't the same set of 10As shown by Arriva!
So no partnership with timetables, then?
For a full set of timetables we have to go to the PTE web site, whither fbb will take his eager readers in tomorrow's blog.
On the way, your elderly author must point out that the PTE web site is now plastered with publicity for the Merseyside version of the £2 minimum or flat fare ...
Click on the above graphic on line and ...
... you get an even bigger graphic ...
... and just in case you are really thick, you are told a third time ... BUT ...
... no mention of the £2 ticket on the "tickets and pries" page.
And not even a very tiny dicky bird (a Liver Bird chick?) on the Arriva and Stagecoach pages.
Partnership, nuffin to do wiv us, guv!"
Continued tomorrow.
And South Yorkshire, Too
But with significantly less hype.
"Mayor's Fare" good use of words, Graphics, poor use of colour!
But it does include the tram.
And it is a maximum fare, not a flat fare as recently announced in Bristol with the abolition of their short-hop fare.
Next 10, 10A & 10B blog : Thursday 10th Nov
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