First Greater Glasgow

[Scott mac]

We all know that First Glasgow are getting Yutong Single Deckers, but First really should try out other bus manufacturers for Double Decker

Has it been confirmed that it Is yutong singles for the 2/3?

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

It was yesterday evening, and it is 67070 for the number crunchers

AHH the videos where uploaded today hence the confusion

 

[ScotRail158725]

Has it been confirmed that it Is yutong singles for the 2/3?

Yes

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Yes

Where?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 May 2022 ==

I just saw one of the 500 express branded buses on the 60 I believe.

33105-33110 are on the 500 today except 33108 which is parked in the depot. Source - Bus Times.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 May 2022 ==

I wonder if First may consider the new Volvo BZL or branch out to different manufacturers with better range given the E400EVs limited range.

I think the range is down to what First specified when making their order to the manufacturer.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

There are Issues today on the 41 with nearly an hour between buses. There are only 4/5 buses covering the route according to live tracking.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

I think the range is down to what First specified when making their order to the manufacturer.

I think it's more likely down to what the manufacturer can offer!

33105-33110 are on the 500 today except 33108 which is parked in the depot. Source - Bus Times.

There are Issues today on the 41 with nearly an hour between buses. There are only 4/5 buses covering the route according to live tracking.

Bus Times doesn't show what buses are in the depot though, it merely shows which buses haven't tracked in service.

There are some ticket machines with faulty GPRS signals, meaning they don't track, so the live tracking can't 100% be relied upon. 38449 for example has been in service for many weeks but hasn't tracked yet (and yes, it does have a ticket machine!). Other issues include buses having the wrong fleet number programmed (the vehicle tracking as 66770 today is actually 33917)

 

[Scott mac]

Yes

Would love to know were?Yutong Single Decks are only a rumour.

 

[lastbus]

I just saw one of the 500 express branded buses on the 60 I believe.

Possibly route training as these buses are not allowed in regular service.

 

[cadder toad]

There are Issues today on the 41 with nearly an hour between buses. There are only 4/5 buses covering the route according to live tracking.

A bus branded 41 was being hitched to a tow truck at lunchtime on Duke St today

 

[ScotRail158725]

I think it's more likely down to what the manufacturer can offer!



Bus Times doesn't show what buses are in the depot though, it merely shows which buses haven't tracked in service.

There are some ticket machines with faulty GPRS signals, meaning they don't track, so the live tracking can't 100% be relied upon. 38449 for example has been in service for many weeks but hasn't tracked yet (and yes, it does have a ticket machine!). Other issues include buses having the wrong fleet number programmed (the vehicle tracking as 66770 today is actually 33917)

66770 is withdrawn now so it’s ticket machine must now be in 33917

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

A bus branded 41 was being hitched to a tow truck at lunchtime on Duke St today

Alot of the 65-plate batch were not great buses.

 

[route101]

Possibly route training as these buses are not allowed in regular service.

I am sure some of the airport E400citys are still on cumbernauld routes.

 

[ScotRail158725]

I am sure some of the airport E400citys are still on cumbernauld routes.

Yes those are the ones still in standard livery to be used on those services

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

I think it's more likely down to what the manufacturer can offer!



Bus Times doesn't show what buses are in the depot though, it merely shows which buses haven't tracked in service.

There are some ticket machines with faulty GPRS signals, meaning they don't track, so the live tracking can't 100% be relied upon. 38449 for example has been in service for many weeks but hasn't tracked yet (and yes, it does have a ticket machine!). Other issues include buses having the wrong fleet number programmed (the vehicle tracking as 66770 today is actually 33917)

This tracking is from first own app , a driver on a different route also confirmed that the 41 is basically running at about half it's normal required buses

 

[PaulMc7]

This tracking is from first own app , a driver on a different route also confirmed that the 41 is basically running at about half it's normal required buses

I do feel sorry for East End passengers to be fair. The 38s and 60s always seem to be massively affected too on top of the 41s.

The app is an inconsistent mess to be fair. I've noticed yesterday and today especially that there's a mix of either buses not having a capacity beside them and others just having a time but not running. If one or the other was a clear sign of a cancellation it would probably make it easier for people but having it so inconsistent doesn't help anyone and then you've got buses that don't track but do turn up and vice versa.

Another better thing mind you would be running services at a level they actually have the drivers to run. It wouldn't take long to figure out and create timetables for.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

This tracking is from first own app , a driver on a different route also confirmed that the 41 is basically running at about half it's normal required buses

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. The buses with no signal from the ticket machine won't show on the First app, thus it looks like less buses are operating the route than actually are. It's a common issue with Ticketer machines it seems.

The app itself is in dire need of an upgrade, IMO, the "bus on a map" feature is pretty lacklustre and as @PaulMc7 refers to it will show buses on the departure boards as "live" which don't show on the map, or are actually sat in the depot without a driver.

 

[PaulMc7]

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. The buses with no signal from the ticket machine won't show on the First app, thus it looks like less buses are operating the route than actually are. It's a common issue with Ticketer machines it seems.

The app itself is in dire need of an upgrade, IMO, the "bus on a map" feature is pretty lacklustre and as @PaulMc7 refers to it will show buses on the departure boards as "live" which don't show on the map, or are actually sat in the depot without a driver.

The other problem with the app I've found is that it's barely ever updated at all. My last available update on my phone was mid-February yet there's other apps that do multiple updates and stability fixes a week.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. The buses with no signal from the ticket machine won't show on the First app, thus it looks like less buses are operating the route than actually are. It's a common issue with Ticketer machines it seems.

The app itself is in dire need of an upgrade, IMO, the "bus on a map" feature is pretty lacklustre and as @PaulMc7 refers to it will show buses on the departure boards as "live" which don't show on the map, or are actually sat in the depot without a driver.

The ticketer machines they've chosen in my view have never been great machines.

The contactless payments are to slow to process, the machine often stutters, the UI is laggy and often because it's a low quality touch screen it can be laborious to operate when your intention is to press one thing only for the machine to do something completely different.

 

[PaulMc7]

Ticket machine problems on 2 buses in a row just over an hour ago. One on an E200 EV 7 wouldn't work at all and then one on an E300 1C would scan everything but concession passes

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

I do feel sorry for East End passengers to be fair. The 38s and 60s always seem to be massively affected too on top of the 41s.

There's also the knock on effect on the non core routes like the 46 which can be bad enough normally with how shafted it gets with traffic , but when it is also picking up significant slack from the 60/A and 41 on Duke Street to parkhead , shettleston , carntyne , easterhouse
It become paralyzed

The 8 , 90 and 43(especially at St Andrews school) are also effect but to a lesser extent

The 61 isn't much better

The whole east end network has been a bit of a disaster since parkhead depot closed

 

[Jarcoed]

I've seen that 33262 (YX68UPO) has been debranded from the 18 livery, will this be happening to all of the 18 batch or just a few of them?

 

[singlemalt]

Ticket machine problems on 2 buses in a row just over an hour ago. One on an E200 EV 7 wouldn't work at all and then one on an E300 1C would scan everything but concession passes

Sometimes rebooting the machine fixes the problem

 

[KGGXXXY]

I know the social media team are not local, this did make me laugh when it came up on my timeline purely for the reply like Seville is next to Partick take the 2.

 

[PaulMc7]

I know the social media team are not local, this did make me laugh when it came up on my timeline purely for the reply like Seville is next to Partick take the 2.

The joys of why you need a local social media team to be honest. It's a funny response but it highlights a big issue for First. There's too many occasions where responses are corrected by other people and that just shouldn't happen.

The fact they're in an industry where the public is your bread and butter and it's the app and general customer service side of things that so badly lacks it's concerning and even more so that there's seems to be no interest in improving it.

 

[LT02 NVV]

I heard on the news last night that First Glasgow will be having a lot less buses out today, with many routes cancelled or being served less frequently, as drive shortages continue to impact services.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2022 ==

Bus Times doesn't show what buses are in the depot though, it merely shows which buses haven't tracked in service.

There are some ticket machines with faulty GPRS signals, meaning they don't track, so the live tracking can't 100% be relied upon. 38449 for example has been in service for many weeks but hasn't tracked yet (and yes, it does have a ticket machine!). Other issues include buses having the wrong fleet number programmed (the vehicle tracking as 66770 today is actually 33917)

This is true, remember back in December of 2019, when I was able to catch an Optare Solo on Part Route version of the 60 (which was presumably covering for a broken down bus), the tracking for the bus stated they it had last been seen on the M60 almost Two Hours before I saw it on the 60, and it never updated on the Bustimes website.

Photo was from my own phone, and uploaded here before on post 5,749:

 

[PaulMc7]

I heard on the news last night that First Glasgow will be having a lot less buses out today, with many routes cancelled or being served less frequently, as drive shortages continue to impact services.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2022 ==


This is true, remember back in December of 2019, when I was able to catch an Optare Solo on Part Route version of the 60 (which was presumably covering for a broken down bus), the tracking for the bus stated they it had last been seen on the M60 almost Two Hours before I saw it on the 60, and it never updated on the Bustimes website.

Photo was from my own phone, and uploaded here before on post 5,749:

Just a normal day at First to be honest with the cancellations. Saturday and Sunday seemed pretty bad too and there's no signs of admitting they're still struggling and no actual realism of timetables either. When I worked in Clydebank 3-4 years ago I used to always see an Optare Solo on a 1D in the morning. Was one of the short runs from Clydebank to Mountblow.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Just a normal day at First to be honest with the cancellations.

Just a normal day in the bus industry these days.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

Just a normal day in the bus industry these days.

At least other operators (and other First OpCos - just look at First Scotland East's Twitter) have the decency to inform passengers which journeys will be missing so they can make alternative arrangements. There's no mention of any short-notice cancellations - not even a general "it'd be advisable to leave extra time for your journey" notice - on their website. You'd think in this day and age it could at least be conveyed through their award winning app that they have a habit of referring passengers to.

 

[PaulMc7]

At least other operators (and other First OpCos - just look at First Scotland East's Twitter) have the decency to inform passengers which journeys will be missing so they can make alternative arrangements. There's no mention of any short-notice cancellations - not even a general "it'd be advisable to leave extra time for your journey" notice - on their website. You'd think in this day and age it could at least be conveyed through their award winning app that they have a habit of referring passengers to.

This is the biggest gripe to be honest. Cancellations are expected but only Blantyre and Overtown have been made public at any point and even that doesn't happen anymore. The app needs destroyed and started again to be honest. It just seems to be getting less and less reliable.

 

[stevenedin]

One thing I think would be useful for the first app is to show what time the bus is due at each stop when you look to see the bus on the map and it gives you the next stops.