Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

[Official]

Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
Afternoon,

I'm sure a lot of you will have something to say on this latest post from the Liverpool Echo
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/live...us-8012878


Could/will bus companies be privatised again?

[DEM777Y]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

(29/10/2014 15:32)Official Wrote:  Afternoon,

I'm sure a lot of you will have something to say on this latest post from the Liverpool Echo
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/live...us-8012878


Could/will bus companies be privatised again?

God help us. If you want something to run well, put people who have worked in the industry and understand the ins and outs of it in charge. If you want it to be a total shambles, put politicians in charge.

[MPTE1955]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
Trusting Anderson, his cronies and merseytravel to run the buses, can't see that going well.

[SNL 824]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
I don't recall Liverpool Corpy being that bad and certainly Birkenhead and Wallasey were prettty good as was Chester prior to deregulation. In respective even MPTE was pretty good compared with what we have now.

[FC Pictures]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
[quote='MPTE1955' pid='65009' dateline='1414598040']
Trusting Anderson, his cronies and merseytravel to run the buses, can't see that going well.
[/quote

Anderson in charge, couldn`t be a worse scenario in the world

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
If Joe Anderson and/or Merseytravel are anywhere near this, then suffice to say it won't end well.

[Barney]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

(29/10/2014 18:51)507009 Wrote:  If Joe Anderson and/or Merseytravel are anywhere near this, then suffice to say it won't end well.

We have just passed the anniversary of bus deregulation and to be honest with you when it was introduced I never thought that it was a policy that would benefit people reliant on bus services nor that it would still be in existence twenty-eight years later. At the time there were dire warnings of reduced services and increased fares for passengers and a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions for the employees of these newly privatised companies. Has that happened I wonder?

From what I understand what is being considered is not a renationalisation of bus companies but rather an introduction of franchising where bus companies can bid to operate routes, similar to that which exists in London still. In the north east, this prospect of route franchising is well advanced with the ITA and local politicians are about to vote on this very proposal.

Not surprisingly, the major bus companies are totally opposed to this proposal and Brian Souter has gone on record as saying that he will pull out entirely from the north-east and close all his depots down leaving several thousand of his employees redundant if it is implemented. This is the same man who sold his entire London operation to an Australian company about six years ago because he said that he could not make sufficient profit only to buy it back at a fraction of the cost he sold it for three years later.

I suppose the question people need to ask themselves when considering this proposal is: should the bus services in major conurbations be operated by a bus company for the benefit of its shareholders or as an essential service for its population. Bus operations in Merseyside prior to bus deregulation were not perfect but, in my opinion, overall they were a lot better than they are now.

[Barney]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
Prior to deregulation in what ways were the services better? I can think of a few:
1. 85-90% of the fleets operated by MPTE and NBC were double-decker.
2. With the exception of industrial services all services operated every day of the week.
3. With the exception of industrial services most services operated from early morning
(5am) till midnight.
4. Last buses from the city centre (Pier Head, Old Haymarket, PSBS) departed at
midnight.
5. Frequencies of most routes were greater than they are now.
6. The route network was far more comprehensive than it is now.
7. Sunday services were more frequent and this in an era when shops and stores were
not allowed to open.
8. Virtually a full service was provided over the entirety of the Christmas period, again
in an era when retail outlets were rarely open for trading and drink-driving was not as
big an issue as it is now.
9. A comprehensive network of 'Football Special' services was provided to transport the
majority of spectators to and from Everton and Liverpool home games.
10.Changes to services were not left to the whim of the operator but were planned with
the aim of reacting to the needs of the passenger.

Am I looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses or were things actually better when bus services were controlled by elected and accountable local officials rather than accountants employed by large multi-national companies?

[kuyoyo]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

(29/10/2014 18:51)507009 Wrote:  If Joe Anderson and/or Merseytravel are anywhere near this, then suffice to say it won't end well.

Exactly. As mentioned, Nexus here in the North East are presently on course to rip the profits presently used to generate the new stock the companies buy to pay off their large debts unless they are stopped (the operators are ready to take them to court, but are waiting until after the Traffic Commissioner and a panel of industry experts have reviewed it). The ITA (made up of Durham, Northumberland and the Tyne and Wear Councils - called North East Combined Authority when it doesn't included the whole of the North East).

Basically, what the councils and PTEs need to do is look at their colleagues in South Yorkshire and the award-winning Sheffield Partnership scheme. Operations take most of the cost for operating services (still a small number of contracted services but these are mainly operated by either TM Travel or Sheffield Community Transport) while the PTE do the timetables and spend money on infrastructure work. All changes are consulted on in a fair and equal way. This is the way places should be going - and indeed here in the southern part of the North East, we are on the way to that.

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run
As good as previous Corporation and later MPTE operations ran I think it's worth pointing out that we live in a different time now where cuts are made left right and centre to things that the council run without second thought, see Libraries and the like. I can't see how a bus operation, which in Merseyside would require millions of pounds to operate, would fair any better. Liverpool City Council aren't exactly great at maintaining infrastructure as it is and I couldn't see how they, or Merseytravel, would make a good job of it.