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Goodwins are filling in for Arriva on Altrincham Local Tenders, good to see they've stepped in rather than leaving an elderly community without a bus service.

Anyone remember what the price on an adult return to stockport is plz?

(17/08/2022 19:52)33109 Wrote: [ -> ]Anyone remember what the price on an adult return to stockport is plz?

£4.50 is the day ticket price, so that's cheaper than 2 x singles for most journeys.

There are some special offer prices if you buy a mobile ticket like £8 for 5 journeys.

I recently had to travel on the 08:15 Altrincham to Manchester Airport. It seems that despite this journey only being allocated a 20 seater Fiat Orion there is no additional provision for the St Ambrose pupils. At Altrincham the driver told the St Ambrose pupils to wait until the other passengers had boarded, then allowed as many as he could get on. The destination display was changed to "BUS FULL", so it was unable to pick up at any of the 9 stops between Alty and St Ambrose. Presumably any St Ambrose pupils who can't board have to get the 08:30 Altrincham to Knutsford D&G Bus.

I think unfortunately the 288 has been woefully unspecified from TfGM when they put out the tender.

I reported to TfGM and Little Gem about the issue as the evening service from the Airport is busy and the little bus being used has seats that are too close together for me to fit in along with very few seats.

When Little Gem had it for the longer East Didsbury services they always had longer buses with the Versa's only being that little number of seats - although probably better suited due to the extra luggage space for Airport travellers.

The only way I could see Little Gem increase is if TfGM reclassify the tender to increase the seat numbers.

(05/10/2022 18:05)dounowhoiam Wrote: [ -> ]When Little Gem had it for the longer East Didsbury services they always had longer buses

Under MCT and D&G when Altrincham-Manchester Airport was a standalone service it was commonplace for a Solo or Enviro with around 30 seats to be used. When D&G extended it the big Enviros got introduced on most journeys, but there were still some Solos on the short early and late journeys.

Quote:with the Versa's only being that little number of seats - although probably better suited due to the extra luggage space for Airport travellers.

The number of luggage racks was overkill though. There's rarely more than 2 or 3 passengers with suitcases, so one rack would have been sufficient. The layout was designed for APH, who would be expecting everyone to have suitcases.

Quote:The only way I could see Little Gem increase is if TfGM reclassify the tender to increase the seat numbers.

From what I understand TfGM set a capacity requirement, not a seating requirement. So if it's a requirement for 36 then it doesn't matter whether it's 20 seated + 16 standing or 28 seated + 8 standing. Obviously a smaller bus that meets the requirement is cheaper to run, so might allow an operator to put in a lower bid.

(05/10/2022 18:34)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Under MCT and D&G when Altrincham-Manchester Airport was a standalone service it was commonplace for a Solo or Enviro with around 30 seats to be used. When D&G extended it the big Enviros got introduced on most journeys, but there were still some Solos on the short early and late journeys.


The number of luggage racks was overkill though. There's rarely more than 2 or 3 passengers with suitcases, so one rack would have been sufficient. The layout was designed for APH, who would be expecting everyone to have suitcases.


From what I understand TfGM set a capacity requirement, not a seating requirement. So if it's a requirement for 36 then it doesn't matter whether it's 20 seated + 16 standing or 28 seated + 8 standing. Obviously a smaller bus that meets the requirement is cheaper to run, so might allow an operator to put in a lower bid.

Keep pestering TFGM they request bigger buses are used. I don’t understand Goodwins. Surly the drivers go back and report leaving large numbers of passengers behind because the bus is full, then they should in an ideal world act on it.
The company I work for have a requirement that when you put ‘bus full’ up and have to leave passengers you send a message on the ticket machine. They can then monitor passenger numbers and increase the bus size if needed.

These little bread vans are great if only picking a few up but on busy routes are far from ideal.

(06/10/2022 10:27)Mayneway Wrote: [ -> ]These little bread vans are great if only picking a few up but on busy routes are far from ideal.

Something like that would be ideal for getting withdrawn town local services reinstated.

With Arriva transferring their Mellors across to Wythenshawe, as well as Little Gem getting 3 new Orions, I think TfGM was looking at getting the tenders operated for the lowest cost possible, rather than worrying about passengers being able to find seats.

(07/10/2022 13:23)knutstransport Wrote: [ -> ]Something like that would be ideal for getting withdrawn town local services reinstated.

With Arriva transferring their Mellors across to Wythenshawe, as well as Little Gem getting 3 new Orions, I think TfGM was looking at getting the tenders operated for the lowest cost possible, rather than worrying about passengers being able to find seats.

Problem with these Mellors is they are unattractive and don’t encourage people to use the bus.

The tracking seems to indicate none of the Orions have been out this week, while an edit on bustimes seems to suggest the MMCs have reverted to their original registrations.