Halton Transport

[Valandil]

RE: Halton Transport

(11/03/2016 21:03)mr t Wrote:  The 79C is going to be every 15 minutes Runcorn - Hough Green, and 30 minutes Runcorn - Liverpool

In my opinion, this is a bit of a poor decision, even though I'm sure it's a considered one with data to back it up etc.
The Runcorn to Widnes section: good.
The Widnes to Hough Green section: for most people using this section of the route, Arriva isn't the operator of choice as their 15-minute frequency is only 50% of what Halton offers with their 14's.
(NB: I doubt that a large proportion of passengers on each vehicle are travelling between Hough Green and Runcorn).
Widnes to Liverpool: it's for people making these journeys that Arriva could be the clear winner if they wanted to, and I fully agree with the forum member who has suggested dropping the Hough Green loop to speed up journey times; of course, a higher frequency than Halton would also help (say every 12 or 10 minutes).

So it seems weird to keep a focus on the Widnes - Hough Green section of the route, where Halton is superior, and drop the focus on the Widnes - Liverpool section.
The need for this mythical X1A service keeps increasing ...

I hope that the times are roughly co-ordinated between the 79C and 82A so that there is an Arriva bus leaving Widnes for Liverpool every quarter hour and one returning every quarter hour.
Having said this, the 82A is a longer route, so they can only be co-ordinated at a maximum of one end, and if you just miss a 79C it would be almost pointless catching the next 82A as the following 79C half an hour later would arrive at almost the same time -- it'd just help get potential passengers onto a bus and save them from the British weather for a bit.