Stagecoach Manchester and Wigan

[knutstransport]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester and Wigan

(18/03/2017 20:50)Dentonian Wrote:  My argument isn't inconsistent, in that there are advantages and disadvantages to the principle of Day Tickets. In retrospect I was wrong to infer that £5.30 was acceptable for all Arriva NW passengers - albeit it probably also depends on the rate of singles for short journeys, and whether Day Returns exist.

Generally return tickets are non-existent and if you ask for a return the driver asks you for £5.30 and issues you with a day ticket.

Quote:I won't get bogged down in the comparison between Longridge (overspill for an overspill!) and Trafford, mainly because Trafford is the richest borough in GM, with the highest overall car ownership. Yes, I do accept there are exceptions such as Sinderland - which is ANW country, anyway - but historically, Trafford has been nowhere near as bus dependant as the borough's and residential areas east and north of Manchester.

I thought the objection was to Stagecoach Manchester increasing fares. They serve a lot of the more prosperous areas of Greater Manchester - Altrincham, Didsbury, Withington, Hazel Grove, Flixton, Worsley, Salford Quays, Cheadle and Marple, while people going to the Trafford Centre for shopping aren't short of money. Yes they also serve less prosperous areas but the same is true with operators who serve Knutsford - D&G serve Crewe and Stoke, Howards serve Northwich and they both serve Macclesfield.

Quote:I'm a bit confused over the "differences" you quote, as apart from there being more evening services in GM, virtually all the points you make seem relevant to both. I'm guessing you are saying that workplace parking is free/cheap in Cheshire towns, but shoppers have to pay. That is slightly the reverse of Manchester (specifically the city centre), but in the districts, paid-for-parking is a rarity for both.

It's rare to hear of workers paying for parking in Cheshire. Even where work places don't have parking places included as part of renting the building they quite often acquire parking places/permits separately to be consistent with other employers. Supermarkets usually offer free parking - or if the car park is a council owned pay & display the supermarket usually refunds your parking if you spend over a certain amount in store.

I don't really understand what point you were trying to make by saying 'free parking is the norm' in GM - other than stations and Metrolink stops having free parking (which is supposed to be for train/tram passengers only) I don't know where all this supposedly free parking is. I know both Trafford and Stockport councils charge you for using their car parks. Trafford also charge for street parking, in Cheshire we don't have that street parking is free but limited to 30 minutes with no return in 3? hours.

Quote:That ties into your comment about Metrolink: *Everything* is more reliable than Metrolink, but Metrolink is "untouchable". It is the very epitome of not letting the truth interfere with image. Also, don't confuse Reliability with Punctuality.
Reliability is the percentage of (registered/timetabled) journeys completed. Punctuality is the number of those journeys run between 59 seconds early and 4 minutes 59 seconds late).

Don't forget operators express reliability as a percentage, so if a Metrolink route with a service every 6 minutes gets closed for 60 minutes the percentage of cancelled services is a similar figure to on a Northern route with a service every 60 minutes, despite Metrolink cancelling 10 services in each direction and Northern cancelling just 1. However, which is going to annoy passengers more - 1 cancelled service or 10 consecutive cancelled services?