Greater Manchester Service Changes

[dounowhoiam]

RE: Greater Manchester Service Changes

(03/08/2021 11:33)knutstransport Wrote:  Everyone (regardless of whether they are unemployed or not) has a designated DWP day based on their NI number.

If the two digits before the final letter are
0-19 your day is Monday
20-39 your day is Tuesday
40-59 your day is Wednesday
60-79 your day is Thursday
80-99 your day is Friday

That becomes your sign-on day for any period you are unemployed and claiming benefits while you're working age and is now also the day your state pension payment will be sent after you retire.

No-one is allocated a Saturday sign-on day. A quick Google shows some job centres started to open on Saturday in 2019 and that relates to providing services to those who are working, most notably older workers looking to retrain for a new career.

Thanks for letting me know that information, I was looking at the Wythenshawe Job Centre opening hours which showed that it is open on Saturdays which is why I raise it.

Quote:Like I mentioned in another thread when discussing airport services airport patronage is at very low levels not seen since the 1960s. For those catching only buses (and not flying) there's alternative interchanges, many of which are more suitably located.

The Airport is a very suitable location for interchanging and very effective thanks to the Relief Road. There are bus / tram / train links direct to Stockport, Altrincham, Manchester, Trafford Centre, etc that may be a lot more practical than interchanging some out of town shopping centre.

Quote:From the Cheshire end a Wilmslow to Manchester Airport plus bus ticket gets you to the airport quicker than the bus and then allow use of almost any bus within Greater Manchester.

Looking at the PlusBus website, the Airport isn't one of the Interchange stations supported and is not accepted at as many bus operators as the System One network. If you look at it from the perspective of passengers, if they are taking a train from Wilmslow they will more likely go directly into Manchester in the same way that paying Macclesfield passengers commute to Stockport or Manchester.

Quote:It doesn't matter whether it's a duplicate route or not, the important question will be are there any essential journeys which can be made using the 130 but won't be possible on the X1 or other public transport options. It also doesn't matter whether people board and alight in Alderley Edge or not, what matters is why they are making those journeys - if it's to get medical treatment at Macclesfield Hospital or to travel to Sainsbury's in Wilmslow then they are would be classed as essential journeys, if it's for a ride on a bus/something to do then the council doesn't have to subside them. If they are essential weekday off-peak journeys the council could include them as part of the Flexirider system instead of a fixed route bus service.

As Job Centre travel (previously been brought up) has been one of the targets for the 130, that would constitute as an essential journey. Is the range provided by this Flexilink service able to cater for this (in terms of area it covers, time it runs and capacity of five passengers) to replace a bus service that is used.

Quote:You're missing the point. The 42C is a TfGM contracted service, which is part replacement for the old 130, while even before the Wythenshawe extension of the new 130 there was no attempt to ensure the remaining part of the 130 connected with the 42C. Alderley Edge to Cheadle requires 2 changes using the 'Free Bus' option you suggested and even then the 'Free Bus' is only a very limited service that doesn't necessarily connect with the the 130 or 42C.

The Knutsford extension on the Free Bus is because the bus was running out-of-service to get to and from Wilmslow for the service. I doubt many people in Knutsford want to catch a bus which takes an hour to travel a relatively short distance and then would leave them at Handforth Dean for 3.5 hours. If it was better publicised it might be a few people would have used it to get to the pharmacy led COVID vaccinations at Handforth Dean.

The Free Bus was brought up as a slight route change to the 130 could make the Free Bus redundant (thus freeing extra resources).