I suppose Avon bosses and Merseytravel have been talking because Avon runs most of the services that would have been tendered routes until recently as commercial services , these services if they had disappeared completely would leave swathes of the wirral without a bus service .
I was at Bootle bus station today (I'm on holiday in Southport until Saturday), and on stance one, there is only one service, an evening service. There was a sign stuck on the shelter, saying the service would not be running "this evening". I presume that referred to Wednesday, and just hadn't been removed.
Maybe we need Avon to be taken over, for example by Rotala, who could then give recruitment of sufficient drivers extra urgency.
The chances are that if the company ever went under and im making this clear the company IS still a fully functioning operation that im sure no one would come in as Avon has very marginal work , more likely the work would be evenly spread out to Arriva and Stagecoach.
Its in Merseytravel interest to have Avon still around .
(01/07/2017 15:52)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]It's in Merseytravel's interest to have Avon still around .
As far as I can see, the only benefit of having Avon still in operation is that it will make the lowest bid for tendered work and this will 'save' the taxpayer money. In reality 'saving' money can have disastrous consequences. There is a truth in the old adage: Buy cheap, buy twice.
(01/07/2017 20:49)Barney Wrote: [ -> ]As far as I can see, the only benefit of having Avon still in operation is that it will make the lowest bid for tendered work and this will 'save' the taxpayer money. In reality 'saving' money can have disastrous consequences. There is a truth in the old adage: Buy cheap, buy twice.
Merseytravel is in a catch 22 situation if thy didnt take the lowest bids then somewhere down the line a socially necessary service may not be able to be operated .
One thing that is getting harder to notice is if your bus service is commercial or supported as Merseytravel have started to use routes that use the commercial service number of the route.
From Merseytravel Avon Buses Services That Are Canceled Today
19:39 144 Bootle Bus Station - Netherton
20:06 144 Netherton - Bootle Bus Station
20:39 144 Bootle Bus Station - Netherton
21:06 144 Netherton - Bootle Bus Station
21:39 144 Bootle Bus Station - Netherton
22:06 144 Netherton - Bootle Bus Station
22:39 144 Bootle Bus Station - Netherton
23:06 144 Netherton - Bootle Bus Station
Well it's only one service, but can journeys be made on other services with a change of service somewhere?
(02/07/2017 17:11)robertclark125 Wrote: [ -> ]Well it's only one service, but can journeys be made on other services with a change of service somewhere?
Some of the 144 route is covered by Arriva routes but most of it serves areas where there is no alternative. By coincidence, I saw a 144 OOS at Bootle Strand about an hour ago with its bonnet up. It is possible that these services were reinstated but the vehicle has failed and it's a long way from Moreton to Bootle.
All these cancellations will probably draw the attention of the traffic commissioners to the problems at Avon.