(05/04/2021 11:39)Mikeonthebuses Wrote: [ -> ]Bus Parks - Areas where multiple vehicles park to wait their time or next duty or driver break, In Greater Manchester there is a lack of suitable bus parks especially at major terminuses like the city centre. meaning vehicles having to find not suitable places to park or hogging a valuable stand. Would TFGM look at constructing some bus parks for vehicles out of service as London has?
Generally speaking, there isn't many places where a bus park would be useful in Greater Manchester because most buses use bus stations which have designated parking. Some routes into the city could benefit from a bus park but where exactly do you put a bus park in the city? Most land is built on and you would end up forcing lots of additional traffic into already congested areas (for example Stagecoach Middleton routes would have to drop off near the Morrisons daily, run around to wherever the bus park is and then have to drive back which would put around a 25% increase in the number of buses going along Oldham Street (would be 50% if every bus did it but I am taking into account smart scheduling giving little layover and also late buses).
It's worth remembering that much of London doesn't have bus stations, it's just an array of stands at the side of the road and so for a bus to terminate and have layover, there has to be a bus park there else buses would just block up the main roads. Manchester has bus stations which are built with the layover in mind.
(05/04/2021 11:39)Mikeonthebuses Wrote: [ -> ]Would we see more cross-city routes in the near future?
This I would like to see. I can't see why it couldn't be done now, I think it's just bus operators are a bit scared of it being a huge punctuality issue. Many routes it wouldn't work for as they are too long but a cross city route can be roughly 1h15 long. The issue is that most interworking opportunities would 1, cause a huge headache for punctuality, 2, would lead to a huge mess up with the PVR in depots (Most routes run close to one of the depots and so a North - South link would mean either depot sharing routes or a lot of dead millage and a lot of faffing PVR making depots no better or worse off).
(05/04/2021 11:39)Mikeonthebuses Wrote: [ -> ]Would see an introduction in a similar version of IBus like London, to provide next stop announcements, stand closures and route divisions.
Great for some occasional travellers, extremely annoying for regulars and also those with certain sensory issues such as noise. It's a large cost and can put some people off the buses. If not ran properly as well, it ends up with stupid people doing stupid things such as in London 'hold on this bus is about to move' every 30 seconds. Do you want to annoy your existing passengers with the hope of encouraging one or two new ones?
(05/04/2021 11:39)Mikeonthebuses Wrote: [ -> ]TFGM could pioneer new ideas which are not currently used in London.
Not a hope in hell. Not unless there is some sort of corruption with the mayor or TFGM getting a nice backhander from it. Incase you hadn't noticed, TFGM is a dictatorship, not ran for public good but for the good of the management who try to make a name for themselves. Nothing good comes out of TFGM.
(05/04/2021 11:39)Mikeonthebuses Wrote: [ -> ]What have you seen from London Bus Operation that you would like to happen with our Buses in Manchester
1 thing and 1 thing only. Toilets at terminus. Would be a life saver for many drivers who have very limited toilet opportunities, especially for cross town routes which only stop momentarily at a bus station.
(05/04/2021 20:24)Barney Wrote: [ -> ]Slightly off topic but Liverpool has resolved the problem of on-street parking and the issue of bus stands by banning buses in large areas of the city centre and making passengers walk a considerable distance to the main shopping areas and tourist attractions, including the Pier Head. A bus park that can accommodate about a dozen buses at a time has been constructed on the edge of the city centre.
Motorists, of course, can still drive and park anywhere they choose.
You mean the fantastic bus park which doesn't actually have enough space for buses and therefore buses are being instructed to park in many cases, back in the original spaces on Dale Street and even on Exchange Street. The best part is, the buses now have more dead mileage than they had before and it hasn't reduced buses through the city by that much, difference is now most of them are doing it not in service rather than in service.