First Manchester

[gilesbus1]

RE: First Manchester

(12/02/2019 22:31)Quackdave Wrote:  I would suggest that even if the majority don't use the services directly, the majority do use the roads of Greater Manchester; and are therefore using the services of public transport indirectly, i.e. keeping those roads from grinding to a halt through an excess of cars.

In any case, assuming that the services of a hypothetical publicly-owned bus operator were priced to break even (once the initial cost of re-acquisition had been paid off), there would be absolutely no reason for this to be "not acceptable" to the majority, since it would be costing them nothing.

Depends though if it can always make profit which no company can guarantee forever, they can't even guarantee it next year. No one can things are driven quite often by various market forces. Bus operators at the moment have a number of external challenges, both locally and on a national level.

They range from the growth of Internet Shopping and the collapse of various retailers on the high street, to the growth of the private car, I understand some considerable number of extra cars went onto Greater Manchester's roads over the last 3-4 years or so. I don't want to quote a figure for how many as I cannot remember what the figure was but it was extremely high. Then you've got the growth of Metrolink, the collapse of many pubs. All of it makes it really hard to find any growth opportunities, then income has been lost since the introduction of the pensioners free fares, and while there may be some income coming in it doesn't cover operating costs, then there is the difficulty of hiring staff as people either don't want to work in the industry or can't, e.g the Anti-social hours involved, the low pay rates, and lack of decent pension levels, and then those who can't drive because of mild disability or ill health that would love to drive but are prevented from doing so.

Greater Manchester Transport didn't have these challenges to this degree and still made large losses in most years of its existence. The same apply s to some of the municipal predecessors also.

The only hope of guaranteeing profit is either some kind of congestion charging or to take Edinburgh's lead and remove most of the car parks and then bus use would have to grow, except Manchester won't do so because most local Councils have an interest in the profits made from the car parks and also the car owners are also voters and they don't want a caning at the next Local Election.

Bus use is only growing or staying stationary in use in Edinburgh, Bristol, Reading, Southampton, Poole and Bournemouth, Brighton, Tyne & Wear, Oxford and Nottingham. Yes I know in three of those area's the buses are in public hands but they are operating on promotion of corridors. That's what needs to be done but what operators in Manchester have always failed to do because of there want for flexibility on where they can use there fleet of buses because they don't want a large reserve fleet, however that branding is some of what brings the growth, I do not want a return to Greater Manchester Transport as it was because it would merely fail. Corporate livery without anything else leads to a don't care attitude and a bland image and a lack of ownership by anybody. All that is needed to say buses are owned by Manchester Buses or whatever it might be called would be a logo or a name on the front, nothing else needs to be Corporate. I want to be able to identify the bus without needing to look at a blind at the front and know that is my bus, I want the staff to be the same and I also want the interior to be clean and tidy, I don't think that is a big ask.

I guess in Leigh/Atherton with Vantage and the 582 we have been lucky to some degree, but other places in Greater Manchester not so.

Also no I don't want to see Brian Souter cry as John Luke does, I see him as someone who has just simply been a successful business man and unfortunately that means making commercial decisions in order to maintain profit, and any companies that don't go out of business and deserve to go out of business. Also Brian Souter would never lose out as he would get money for the company in any case or the garages and the vehicles if he can't recoup money that way, so which ever way he won't lose and wether he operates buses in Manchester or not he will still be the largest operator in the Country bringing in the biggest profits so unless you want to pay him and several other business leaders several Billion to nationalise all the buses in the entire Country that won't change or worry him.