The Arriva Decker Influx

[motormayhem1]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
The MD as been the northwest one for a few years now as far as im aware of as ive been back for 5 yrs and its been the same MD for as long as ive been back as i just think its more to do with there wanting to improve things and move foward.

[Barney]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx

(09/10/2014 19:41)childwallblues Wrote:  Friends in the know put the change of policy down to a change in the Managing Director. The current MD was I understand previously at Yorkshire were double deck orders were regular.

The fact that the new MD is a decker fan may be one factor but he would still need to justify multi-million pound investments to his superiors. To give Arriva credit, its ticketing policy has undoubtedly been a big factor in increasing ridership over the past few years. Some people still complain that £2.20 for a single journey is excessive but you really can't argue with £15 for unlimited travel within Merseyside for a week.

Whatever the reasons for the change of policy, we are now in a much better place than the dark days when EL2000s and Plaxton Darts were the best we could hope for.

All we need now is for the MD at Stagecoach to bite the bullet. What chance that?

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx

(09/10/2014 20:46)Barney Wrote:  All we need now is for the MD at Stagecoach to bite the bullet. What chance that?

It's a good point, and quite damning that when you consider all the routes listed above, Stagecoach still have absolutely none in Liverpool with a 100% decker allocation.

There is now a big gulf in quality on the 86/86A with Arriva's allocation trouncing Stagecoach's. The same is true of the 82 to a lesser extent, and will soon to be mirrored by the 10/10A/10C corridor.

[Valandil]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx

(09/10/2014 20:56)507009 Wrote:  The same is true of the 82 to a lesser extent, and will soon to be mirrored by the 10/10A/10C corridor.

Yes, not too long ago it was common to see Solos on that corridor! (10C)

[wirralbus]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
Does Stagecoach really want these QBP's to work or are they just going through the motions , doing just enough to keep ahead of Merseytravel. Arriva have now shown that they are stepping up there game with all the deckers they have brought in over the last few years.

[Official]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
Double deckers for the demand. Simple as. Carrying more passengers on a daily basis now requires DDs.

[Barney]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx

(11/10/2014 16:32)Dentonian Wrote:  Any particular reason for the increased demand - especially given the Bus Lane suspension, and the collapse of petrol prices? Is the Merseyside economy improving? Is the QBP working well - especially from Arriva's point of view? Is Merseyrail losing out with the various line/station closures?

Not seen any patronage figures this year, but after a few years of stability, bus paronage dropped like a stone in 2012/3, so I'm wondering what the difference is in Merseyside....or is it just Liverpool.

As I said earlier £15 for unlimited travel on Arriva services within Merseyside is great value. As regards the observation that petrol is only 18p per mile, the initial purchase cost of vehicle, the depreciation of said vehicle, insurance of said vehicle, the road tax of said vehicle, servicing, repairs and general maintenance of said vehicle, extortionate parking fees of said vehicle etc etc all add up. Personally, I always use the bus to travel into Liverpool rather than use my own car.

It is no coincidence that Laird Street has had deckers on their cross-river routes for years. Commuters within the Liverpool city region beyond the student corridors of the 82 and 86 have now cottoned on to the advantages of leaving the car at home.

[St Helens Rider]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
As regards the QBP's, I think Arriva seem to getting the most custom. I was on an Arriva 10A earlier with a Stagecoach 10A in tandem - the Arriva Pulsar was full and even though passengers had the choice at most of the stops, most choose Arriva. At best guess maybe because Arriva has more services in the area, their day/weekly tickets appear to provide more value and thus more popular.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
I'm not sure it is down to significantly increased demand. Certainly, the general impression seems to be that bus travel in the North West is steadily declining. That was the view of Merseytravel in one of their recent website articles. Of course, it could be that Liverpool is bucking the trend, but given the way bus services have stagnated and been cut back in some cases, I doubt it. It's more the case that the routes set to be upgraded this year have suffered with high levels of overcrowding for years.

I still think Arriva North West is living in the shadow of the dark B. Hind days, where actual quality of service was seemingly not important. For Capital of Culture, you had buses receiving 'Lebus' branding and drivers were being taught French and Spanish, yet core routes still had old and cramped buses for the most part. There has been a slow but marked transformation in Arriva Merseyside since his departure.

As for bus lanes, the effect of their suspension on any of the services I've used in the last few months has been pretty negligible. I can't see it affecting frequencies - Anderson hasn't made quite the mistake I thought he had to be fair.

[james solomon]

RE: The Arriva Decker Influx
Someone mentioned the influx of these new deckers is cascading Volvo B7TL ALX400s around the group to replace DAFs such as some to Winsford. Is it a vast improvement over these with the new deckers in service and its good to see Arriva finally improving to the standards to compete against the likes of Stagecoach for quality wouldn't say Firstbus are any quality at all since stagecoach and Arriva tend to share the love around with new vehicles where as Firstbus there have been operations that havnt had any love i know of one since 2005 but may be older but have now after like 7 years receive the love