Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

(20/02/2019 14:13)mrailman200 Wrote:  And now there on about getting rid of the night 1 service fri and sat nights( stagecoach / merseytravel ) ...been on this a few times and it was nearly full on those occasions. Absolutely outrageous..it was nice knowing you had a night link during those nights should you needed it

The problem is that the revenue for this service is probably taken on the daytime buses and the farebox revenue of the night service doesnt cover the costs of the service

[mrd97]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations
Consultations mean nothing - the night bus is going to go basically. And merseytravel as usual will sit back and do nothing - if challenged they’ll say ‘it’s a commercial service and nothing to do with us’ which is true, but they should provide at least a shuttle bus between Sir Thomas Street and Birkenhead Bus Station - let’s not forget they ran a similar service when there was already a commercial network of arriva night buses - and got rid of it after the commerocal
Services were withdrawn (stupid decision). It ran when it wasn’t needed. Now we’ll be left without a night bus at all - they’ll do nothing of course

[L401CJF]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

(20/02/2019 15:01)wirralbus Wrote:  The problem is that the revenue for this service is probably taken on the daytime buses and the farebox revenue of the night service doesnt cover the costs of the service

I used it a few times, standing room on each occasion. Problem being they're paying the drivers a night rate, but accepting all passes on the service. It should be fare only.

[mrailman200]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations
You are right there...maybe have to suggest that to them in their survey their going on about ...why not charge everyone 3 quid etc

[Barney]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

(20/02/2019 22:33)mrailman200 Wrote:  You are right there...maybe have to suggest that to them in their survey their going on about ...why not charge everyone 3 quid etc

When pre-paid paper tickets are legitimately used on these services are they registered in some way by the driver? If passengers are simply waved on and no electronic record is kept it would simply appear that there are no passengers. Last year, the opposite happened when the directors of Express Motors were jailed for falsely claiming reimbursement for passengers that didn't actually exist.

[Walton 46]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations
I just done the consultation and suggested Stagecaoch do something similar to what Stagecoach South do on it's N700 Nightliner between Brighton and Durrington. All passengers pay a flat fare (£5) but anyone who has a valid dayrider or megarider only pays a supplement of £2. If Stagecoach done that with the night bus to Chester (albeit a slightly lower flat fare) it might pay for itself then

[iMarkeh]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations
It is probably worth noting that A LOT of Merseytravel tickets are used to cross the border which will highly affect revenue.

People I have spoken to have all said it is a standing load to Birkenhead and then it dwindles down gradually with normally no one on past Ellesmere Port. They said in all the times they have used the services (which is each week), they have only known one person go past Sutton Way Roundabout and that was someone who fell asleep and wanted Bromborough haha.

I think the best action would be to cut it back to 1 bus. I think many of us will agree Chester doesn't need and isn't busy enough for a night bus. Ellesmere Port doesn't need one. The route which I suggested to them via the consultation was to divert it via the 41 route between Birkenhead and Rock Ferry garage as the catchment area is vastly increased then. I am unsure how many people get off normally along the section which this would leave unserved however if they daytime is anything to go by, the answer will be none. Divert it slightly and cut it back. If you can do 40 min end to end then you can still have the same departure times from Liverpool but the physical N1 route costs a lot less to run with it only being 1 bus.

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations
The standing load to Birkenhead from Liverpoool is because taxi fares through the tunnel are so steep , people will then just book or hail a taxi in Birkenhead to there ultimate destination.

Instead of the 1 night bus , just run a night N41 from Liverpool to Mill Park (Eastham).

[iMarkeh]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

(21/02/2019 15:47)wirralbus Wrote:  The standing load to Birkenhead from Liverpoool is because taxi fares through the tunnel are so steep , people will then just book or hail a taxi in Birkenhead to there ultimate destination.

Instead of the 1 night bus , just run a night N41 from Liverpool to Mill Park (Eastham).

That would work but wouldn't it take a tiny bit too long unless it ran back NIS like the night buses used to.

[wirralbus]

RE: Merseytravel: Bus service Consultations

(21/02/2019 18:48)iMarkeh Wrote:  That would work but wouldn't it take a tiny bit too long unless it ran back NIS like the night buses used to.

Dont forget the 1 overnight is not what you would call a regular timetable , at present it is every 1 and a half .

The route 1 at night takes about 80 minutes to chester , you could halve that to 40 mins if only travelling to Mill Park or the Travelodge on the M53 junction roundabout , thereby getting more journeys in.