Remaining Independents in Merseyside

[motormayhem1]

RE: Remaining Independents in Merseyside
The problem is that car ownership is rising quite rapidly and in merseyside the main city mayor Mr Anderson isn't bothered about promoting public transport.
He would rather allow more car parks to be built and remove all bus lanes which causes problems getting in and out of the city at peak times which delays public transport.
The knock on effect is people start turning to alternatives which is public transports biggest rival being personal veichles which people find more convenient than standing waiting for a bus in bad weather.
Nearly all other cities promote public transport and create infrastructure to help it along while merseyside allow it to become problematic and remove the infrastructure to slow it down causing problems for bus companies.
The other problem was the removal of BSOG funding which was a great help to bus companies and was the difference between going bust and staying afloat.
Hopefully no other operators vanish but unfortanly I think there's still more to go if things continue the way they are.

[Y458 KNF]

RE: Remaining Independents in Merseyside

(28/01/2020 21:49)motormayhem1 Wrote:  The problem is that car ownership is rising quite rapidly and in merseyside the main city mayor Mr Anderson isn't bothered about promoting public transport.
He would rather allow more car parks to be built and remove all bus lanes which causes problems getting in and out of the city at peak times which delays public transport.
The knock on effect is people start turning to alternatives which is public transports biggest rival being personal veichles which people find more convenient than standing waiting for a bus in bad weather.
Nearly all other cities promote public transport and create infrastructure to help it along while merseyside allow it to become problematic and remove the infrastructure to slow it down causing problems for bus companies.
The other problem was the removal of BSOG funding which was a great help to bus companies and was the difference between going bust and staying afloat.
Hopefully no other operators vanish but unfortanly I think there's still more to go if things continue the way they are.

The way it’s going I can only see Arriva and Stagecoach running In Merseyside in around 10-15 years time possibly the odd independent like HTL might survive if the tendered funding isn’t dropped

[MPTE1955]

RE: Remaining Independents in Merseyside

(28/01/2020 21:49)motormayhem1 Wrote:  The problem is that car ownership is rising quite rapidly and in merseyside the main city mayor Mr Anderson isn't bothered about promoting public transport.
He would rather allow more car parks to be built and remove all bus lanes which causes problems getting in and out of the city at peak times which delays public transport.
The knock on effect is people start turning to alternatives which is public transports biggest rival being personal veichles which people find more convenient than standing waiting for a bus in bad weather.
Nearly all other cities promote public transport and create infrastructure to help it along while merseyside allow it to become problematic and remove the infrastructure to slow it down causing problems for bus companies.
The other problem was the removal of BSOG funding which was a great help to bus companies and was the difference between going bust and staying afloat.
Hopefully no other operators vanish but unfortanly I think there's still more to go if things continue the way they are.

I agree , it's not going to help with the plans in Liverpool city centre, buses will be stopping further from the centre Anderson seems to want to make everywhere pedestrianised but it will even be awkward for cars. Anderson is doing the opposite to every other city, I have my own thoughts on why but they can't be given on here. Anyway, the amounts of independents has reduced markedly over the last few years, I can't see that trend changing , it's going to get tougher and the big boys are the winners.

[Bevan Price]

RE: Remaining Independents in Merseyside

(28/01/2020 22:03)MPTE1955 Wrote:  I agree , it's not going to help with the plans in Liverpool city centre, buses will be stopping further from the centre Anderson seems to want to make everywhere pedestrianised but it will even be awkward for cars. Anderson is doing the opposite to every other city, I have my own thoughts on why but they can't be given on here. Anyway, the amounts of independents has reduced markedly over the last few years, I can't see that trend changing , it's going to get tougher and the big boys are the winners.

I can even see Arriva and Stagecoach getting out in the next few years. Arriva in particular have been reducing some frequencies to the level where services become increasingly unattractive to passengers, e.g. the recent weekend cuts to the 329 and 360, and the post-Halton reduction to 17 (St. Helens / Widnes)