Nottingham City Transport... hmm

[P156KWJ]

Hi all,
I frequently use Nottingham City transport (NCT) as it is the only operator that is convenient for me. They had a complete makeover back in 2001, and have been very highly commended by the Bus industry awards ever since, and even won Bus operator of the year 2004. NCT have one of (if not the) youngest fleets in the whole of the UK. The oldest buses in use on services are 'P' reg Optare excels and 'R' reg dennis Arrows hock:
looks pretty good on the surface doesn't it?
But - I am not at all fond of NCT. For a start, they have followed in Trent Barton's footsteps and made sub-brands for nearly everything! If I was in charge, I'd just have NCT. But now we have...
Go2
Nottingham Network
Local Link
Eco Link :???:
City Link (formerley Park and ride, then became Link, then became Work Link)
Pathfinder
South Notts
UniLink Navy
uniLink Orange
City Link 2
Orange Link
Medi Link
MyBus
Bridgford Bus
Fosseway flyer
Southwell Sprinter
SkyLink

Not to mention that the vast majority of those contain service numbers which also fall into colour coded lines, of which you could have, say, service 68 Yellow, Nottingham Network with service 69 yellow Go2 in the same line but not the same branding.

Also, apart from CityLink (aka P+R), Pathfinder and SouthNotts NCT do not give change under any circumstances. And whilst on the subject of fares - too many 'flat' fares that are very expensive.
Standard city boundary fares are going up for about the 12th time in the past few years (not joking there) to: Adult £1.50, Child £1.00, Adult All day £3.00. Outside of the city it's £4.00 Adult single or £6.00 return for, say, Lowdham to Nottingham - whereas the train will cost about £2.00 return. Group riders extending to outside the city have gone up to £10 and must include more than one adult with 1-3 kids. Too complex whilst too simplified.

And also, you have your grumpy staff. (The only friendly routes were the 90 and 100 (pathfinder) routes. That was before they got a £1 paycut per hour and left.) The majority of drivers do not say a word to you. They are arrogant, and yet do not complain at passengers who are smoking or sitting in disabled places when someone who needs them can't have them.

Is it just in Nottingham? Or is your bus operator like that?
Please reply - took me ages to write this!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Having used buses recently in places such as london, leeds & manchester, I'd say stop complaining. Both TrentBarton & NCT are far superior to anything found in those areas.

The colour coding is really good and the level of info available at stops makes finding your way around the city on NCT services quite straightforward. Leeds also have coloured lines, but all the buses are the same colour and there is naff all info available at stops. Manchester is an absolute nightmare and the spider maps in London are too complicated.

What I would like to see happen on NCT is more frequent evening services and the Night buses running 7 nights a week between normal service shutdown and first services in the morning. Also, it's about time that Easyrider Anytime tickets were valid on NET.

 

[P156KWJ]

Having used buses recently in places such as london, leeds & manchester, I'd say stop complaining. Both TrentBarton & NCT are far superior to anything found in those areas.

The colour coding is really good and the level of info available at stops makes finding your way around the city on NCT services quite straightforward. Leeds also have coloured lines, but all the buses are the same colour and there is naff all info available at stops. Manchester is an absolute nightmare and the spider maps in London are too complicated.

What I would like to see happen on NCT is more frequent evening services and the Night buses running 7 nights a week between normal service shutdown and first services in the morning. Also, it's about time that Easyrider Anytime tickets were valid on NET.

I was considering getting an Anytime card but that's what put me off.

 

[Tom B]

Far better to other areas. If you go to Doncaster, fares are £1.10 for a few stops right up to £3.00. Day saver is £3.50 or £4.50. For that you get a crappy Dart or Olympian with a grumpy driver!

Best bus service I've ever found are in Edinburgh, operated by LRT Lothian.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Best public transport service I've ever used is Berlin.

 

[P156KWJ]

best I've ever used was Amsterdam.

In Nottingham the main buses used are Scanias. We have Scania OmniDekkas (about 30% of fleet - all 53-57 reg), OmniCity (all 51-08 reg), OmniTown (all 04 reg), we also have a lot of Optare solos (S-52 reg), Optare Excels (P-03 reg), and Dennis Arrows/Tridents. Former R/S reg, latter T-Y reg.
Think the oldest bus is used for driver training which is a G reg Leyland something

 

[Mojo]

Also, apart from CityLink (aka P+R), Pathfinder and SouthNotts NCT do not give change under any circumstances. And whilst on the subject of fares - too many 'flat' fares that are very expensive.
Standard city boundary fares are going up for about the 12th time in the past few years (not joking there) to: Adult £1.50, Child £1.00, Adult All day £3.00.

Not giving change is a very good system on buses. Not only does it increase safety and security for the drivers but it offers a much quicker journey.

As a side point, they are some of the cheapest cash fares of any urban bus service in the country. The maximum single (adult) in Birmingham is the same. Here in Bristol on First, the fares are £1.20, £1.70, £2.20 & £2.70. A day ticket is £3.70 peak and £4 off peak. That doesn't get you much transport, and I don't think First have won many awards!

I haven't been on a bus in ages though.

 

[Nym]

Having used buses recently in places such as london, leeds & manchester, I'd say stop complaining. Both TrentBarton & NCT are far superior to anything found in those areas.

The colour coding is really good and the level of info available at stops makes finding your way around the city on NCT services quite straightforward. Leeds also have coloured lines, but all the buses are the same colour and there is naff all info available at stops. Manchester is an absolute nightmare and the spider maps in London are too complicated.

What I would like to see happen on NCT is more frequent evening services and the Night buses running 7 nights a week between normal service shutdown and first services in the morning. Also, it's about time that Easyrider Anytime tickets were valid on NET.

I don't think manchester is that difficult, quite easy if you actualy know where you wanna be going lol

Theres only a few diferent buses I can use to get home: 216, 217, 218, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, and a few others, lol. But they all pick up at the same place...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Far better to other areas. If you go to Doncaster, fares are £1.10 for a few stops right up to £3.00. Day saver is £3.50 or £4.50. For that you get a crappy Dart or Olympian with a grumpy driver!

Best bus service I've ever found are in Edinburgh, operated by LRT Lothian.

yeah, but it's cheaper and you still get there

 

[tramboy]

Get ready for the rumoured Versas as well, supposedly replacing the Omnitowns on the Pathfinder routes.

Go2...simple brand for high frequency routes, comparable to the Overground.
Network: For the rest of the routes running in that coloured quadrant (ie Go2 Green has further Green network buses in it)
Pathfinder + South Notts: Both established brands that NCT took over, and as such have remained. In some respects, there would be outcry if the South Notts brand disappeared.
CityLink: What the council tells them to brand the P+R buses.
EcoLink: For the new Ethanol fuelled Omnicity trial.
LocalLink: A brand for the Nottingham Community Transport operated routes (under fund to the City Council) and one NCT have been told to use on selected routes too.

The rest really aren't brands, more like ways of identifying the bus. Bridgeford Bus...goes to West Bridgford. Medilink...to the hospitals (also, btw, not an NCT route) and Skylink, operates with the rest of the Skylink services (those from L'boro, Derby etc) to EMA.

Personally, the routing system for NCT is understandable...the fare system silly (why they ever bought Pathfinder is anyones guess), and the staff grumpy because they never have to talk to passengers (I mean, people drop money in, they issue it...fairly dull really, unlike Trent Barton, where they do talk to you!)

TrentBarton and NCT are far superior to other areas, take Arriva (any Arriva area) or most of First's operations. At least here, we have an independant who believes in passenger satisfaction, and we have NCT, one of the last municipals in the country (albeit partly owned by Transdev).

Best public transport...definitely anywhere on the continent, and not in the UK. Munich...seamless transfers from U-Bahn->S-Bahn->Tram-Bus. Paris...admittedly the Metro all smells the same, but it works. Anywhere has better integrated public transport than Britain!

Fortunately, I live on a trentbarton route...so I'm fairly happy, apart from all the fare hikes recently.

Cheers

Dave

 

[gordonthemoron]

However, the fare structure in Munich is the most complicated in Germany

 

[P156KWJ]

Get ready for the rumoured Versas as well, supposedly replacing the Omnitowns on the Pathfinder routes.

Go2...simple brand for high frequency routes, comparable to the Overground.
Network: For the rest of the routes running in that coloured quadrant (ie Go2 Green has further Green network buses in it)
Pathfinder + South Notts: Both established brands that NCT took over, and as such have remained. In some respects, there would be outcry if the South Notts brand disappeared.
CityLink: What the council tells them to brand the P+R buses.
EcoLink: For the new Ethanol fuelled Omnicity trial.
LocalLink: A brand for the Nottingham Community Transport operated routes (under fund to the City Council) and one NCT have been told to use on selected routes too.

The rest really aren't brands, more like ways of identifying the bus. Bridgeford Bus...goes to West Bridgford. Medilink...to the hospitals (also, btw, not an NCT route) and Skylink, operates with the rest of the Skylink services (those from L'boro, Derby etc) to EMA.

Personally, the routing system for NCT is understandable...the fare system silly (why they ever bought Pathfinder is anyones guess), and the staff grumpy because they never have to talk to passengers (I mean, people drop money in, they issue it...fairly dull really, unlike Trent Barton, where they do talk to you!)

TrentBarton and NCT are far superior to other areas, take Arriva (any Arriva area) or most of First's operations. At least here, we have an independant who believes in passenger satisfaction, and we have NCT, one of the last municipals in the country (albeit partly owned by Transdev).

Best public transport...definitely anywhere on the continent, and not in the UK. Munich...seamless transfers from U-Bahn->S-Bahn->Tram-Bus. Paris...admittedly the Metro all smells the same, but it works. Anywhere has better integrated public transport than Britain!

Fortunately, I live on a trentbarton route...so I'm fairly happy, apart from all the fare hikes recently.

Cheers

Dave

thank christ, so someone else heard they're getting rid of the OmniTowns! No legroom, complete wasted space inside too - they are a fair bit longer than Solos but only have 33 seats :???:

Also, I am not sure that NCT are good with keeping something and sticking with it! They have had a countless number of soi called 'minor tweaks' on services.

Also, yes, remembered now that MediLink is a NCC bus, but it's still the same sort of problems (think it's a free bus though - so that's a relief!)

 

[Tom B]

Often minor tweaks are to improve reliability, for example altering the timetable to slacken it out.

If you think such companies are bad you are welcome to try travelling First... up in Edinburgh buses are council owned but at arm's length - they are run excellently and are popular with passengers.

 

[P156KWJ]

Often minor tweaks are to improve reliability, for example altering the timetable to slacken it out.

If you think such companies are bad you are welcome to try travelling First... up in Edinburgh buses are council owned but at arm's length - they are run excellently and are popular with passengers.

I know tweaks are to improve - but why take a bus out and then put it back again a few months later? and why add a bus to then take it off again a few months later?

 

[Mojo]

Because it's not always clear what effect changing service patterns will have and how many complaints you get from customers.

 

[Tom B]

These things often don't become apparent until the service is registered and people are using it. Or not, as the case may be.

If you mean "add a bus" "take away a bus" as in add a board, this usually happens when traffic is bad, so journey times are extended, so another board is brought on to keep the frequency up.

 

[P156KWJ]

easy solution - do a customer survey beforehand of people within - say 1/2 a mile radius of the route

 

[Guinness]

easy solution - do a customer survey beforehand of people within - say 1/2 a mile radius of the route

Sadly Bus Companies won't fork out for them unless the route is going to highly profitable in which case the Bus Company can immediately make the money back on the route. With ever increasing Fuel Costs and the decline of buses I can't see this happening any time soon, unless the survey was heavily subsidised by the local Council..

 

[Mojo]

The problem with buses is that it is very difficult to tell how people will behave. People don't like buses and they will never, ever be a serious solution to reducing traffic congestion in our cities on their own.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Don't know about Bristol, but NCT and TrentBarton busses in Nottingham are very popular, as is the Tram

 

[P156KWJ]

Don't know about Bristol, but NCT and TrentBarton busses in Nottingham are very popular, as is the Tram

they are EXTREMELY popular. Despite another fare rise today
I can remember going on the tram the day it opened (9th March 2004) and it filled up at its origin (Station Street) and there were so many people you couldn't hear the auto-announcers

 

[gordonthemoron]

Bet the bus users in Gotham won't happy about the fare change, single to Nottingham has doubled from £1.50 to £3. Also, NCT are still fidlling the cost of an annual Easyrider pass so they can continue to claim that it costs less than £1 per day.

 

[P156KWJ]

Bet the bus users in Gotham won't happy about the fare change, single to Nottingham has doubled from £1.50 to £3. Also, NCT are still fidlling the cost of an annual Easyrider pass so they can continue to claim that it costs less than £1 per day.

and of course that's if you get it on Direct Debit for more than 365 days.

 

[Nick W]

I couldn't believe it when a price of a single on South Notts went from £2 to £3 overnight.

And since I have also fallen out with East Midlands Trains, who ignored questions I wrote in two letters, next time I go up there, I'm gonna drive up alone all the way from Ipswich.

 

[P156KWJ]

I couldn't believe it when a price of a single on South Notts went from £2 to £3 overnight.

And since I have also fallen out with East Midlands Trains, who ignored questions I wrote in two letters, next time I go up there, I'm gonna drive up alone all the way from Ipswich.

fares from Gotham went up from £1.50 to £3 hock: it was even on East Midlands Today!

 

[Nick W]

fares from Gotham went up from £1.50 to £3 hock: it was even on East Midlands Today!

The two times I got a bus from East Leake to Nottingham, the driver got off there and left the bus unattended (and hijackable...). Perhaps this is the opportunity for you to get on the bus and sneak upstairs without paying the fare .

 

[P156KWJ]

The two times I got a bus from East Leake to Nottingham, the driver got off there and left the bus unattended (and hijackable...). Perhaps this is the opportunity for you to get on the bus and sneak upstairs without paying the fare .

I use the 44/45 to school in Gedling and at Netherfield the driver often gets out with the engine running, walks accross the road in to the cob shop, buys a bacon butty then gets back in - hence the reason it's a few minutes early arriving there when he's driving

 

[barry the bus]

Hi all,
I frequently use Nottingham City transport (NCT) as it is the only operator that is convenient for me. They had a complete makeover back in 2001, and have been very highly commended by the Bus industry awards ever since, and even won Bus operator of the year 2004. NCT have one of (if not the) youngest fleets in the whole of the UK. The oldest buses in use on services are 'P' reg Optare excels and 'R' reg dennis Arrows hock:
looks pretty good on the surface doesn't it?
But - I am not at all fond of NCT. For a start, they have followed in Trent Barton's footsteps and made sub-brands for nearly everything! If I was in charge, I'd just have NCT. But now we have...
Go2
Nottingham Network
Local Link
Eco Link :???:
City Link (formerley Park and ride, then became Link, then became Work Link)
Pathfinder
South Notts
UniLink Navy
uniLink Orange
City Link 2
Orange Link
Medi Link
MyBus
Bridgford Bus
Fosseway flyer
Southwell Sprinter
SkyLink

Not to mention that the vast majority of those contain service numbers which also fall into colour coded lines, of which you could have, say, service 68 Yellow, Nottingham Network with service 69 yellow Go2 in the same line but not the same branding.

Also, apart from CityLink (aka P+R), Pathfinder and SouthNotts NCT do not give change under any circumstances. And whilst on the subject of fares - too many 'flat' fares that are very expensive.
Standard city boundary fares are going up for about the 12th time in the past few years (not joking there) to: Adult £1.50, Child £1.00, Adult All day £3.00. Outside of the city it's £4.00 Adult single or £6.00 return for, say, Lowdham to Nottingham - whereas the train will cost about £2.00 return. Group riders extending to outside the city have gone up to £10 and must include more than one adult with 1-3 kids. Too complex whilst too simplified.

And also, you have your grumpy staff. (The only friendly routes were the 90 and 100 (pathfinder) routes. That was before they got a £1 paycut per hour and left.) The majority of drivers do not say a word to you. They are arrogant, and yet do not complain at passengers who are smoking or sitting in disabled places when someone who needs them can't have them.

Is it just in Nottingham? Or is your bus operator like that?
Please reply - took me ages to write this!

all the link services you mention are council commissioned services, as part of their link bus network to complementthe commercial networks. some (not all- eg Nottingham Community Transport operate local link and the hospital trust medilink- ) operated by nct as contracted services don't blame it all on NCT

 

[Nick W]

Back in year 7, my bus driver of a contract bus got out to post a letter in a post box. I shut the door and locked him out and sat in the driver's seat for a bit before letting him in. Don't worry, he saw the funny side.

 

[eezypeazy]

If you think you're hard-done-by in the cities and conurbations, you should consider the plight of the more rural communities.

I live in Prudhoe in the Tyne valley, about 12 miles west of Newcastle, and work in Hexham, a further 12 miles west. Although we are a two-car family, I usually cycle to and from work, following National Cycle Route 72 through Corbridge.

Having to spend a full day in London yesterday, I decided I'd travel to the capital by train on Tuesday evening. Not wanting to end up with my car (or bike!) in the wrong place, I used Arriva Northumbria bus services to get to work. Sadly, my office is a mile from Hexham town centre, on the industrial estate near the Egger chipboard plant, and is very badly served by public transport - just two buses a day pass the office in each direction (four in the summer thanks to the Hadrian's Wall bus service). By using the Low Prudhoe end of AN's 604 bus, I could then walk across the footbridge to Ovingham to catch the 687 to work - the total cost of this 12 mile trip? A whopping £3.90!

What's worse is the inadequate provision of buses to this industrial estate, and the lack of any commuting journeys from the villages along the north bank of the Tyne (the 687 doesn't reach Hexham till 0950).

In terms of population, Prudhoe has about 11,000 residents to Hexham's 10,000, but Hexham is the "market" town. Although my Arriva bus service stops at my front door twice an hour, if I were to use it to commute, say, into Newcastle, it would take an hour - the first 35 minutes of which is spent tootling round Prudhoe, never getting more than a mile from where I live!

I used the car today (having spent ten hours out of 24 on trains, I was shattered!), but it's back on the bike for me tomorrow...

I do hope Gordon Brown, Alastair Darling and Ruth Kelly have kept the 'phone number for Pickfords Removals handy - they may well be needing their services in a couple of years' time...

Regards

eezypeazy

 

[Nick W]

My sympathies. Parking is a rip off at major stations on the network, and ridiculously it's probably cheaper to have 2 lifts (in terms of fuel only agreed) than a return (or two singles) bus fare. I'm lucky enough to live a 25 minute walk from a station, so it doesn't affect me. At least they're building parkway stations to address the problem.