Bus Industry in Peril

[Edsmith]

I haven't as I don't drive so never been a reason to ever be there but I've known drivers at different depots and there's been plenty on here said by drivers or ex-drivers as well as other social media that points towards utterly abysmal conditions for working. There are a lot of newer drivers on my current most used routes and in a short space of time I've watched the mood in them change very quickly too.

It seems to be the same with the big 3 in Glasgow and the surrounding areas too.

The frieght industry is horrible and HGV driving involves a lot of horrible conditions too but let's not get away from the main point of the thread. Bus companies need to adapt because staff won't accept poor working conditions anywhere near as much as they used to.

Getting up and leaving is far more common in every industry now. Pay does need to improve too but working conditions is the main one for me.

You can't generalise like that, ie saying that the freight/HGV industry is horrible. I certainly know plenty of people who are quite happy in the industry. The main problem in the bus and truck driving industry is that drivers retiring are not being replaced in sufficient numbers because the job just isn't attractive to many younger people for a variety of reasons. Obviously the pandemic has exacerbated the situation and the surge in home delivery services means that there is more need than ever for drivers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can't generalise like that, ie saying that the freight/HGV industry is horrible. I certainly know plenty of people who are quite happy in the industry. The main problem in the bus and truck driving industry is that drivers retiring are not being replaced in sufficient numbers because the job just isn't attractive to many younger people for a variety of reasons. Obviously the pandemic has exacerbated the situation and the surge in home delivery services means that there is more need than ever for drivers.

And the barrier to entry for home delivery and the likes is much lower, because the vehicles used are 3500kg gross vehicle weight and as such can be driven on a regular car driving licence.

 

[HSTEd]

Ultimately the bus industry has a serious problem in that staff are really expensive and are only going to get more so.

And unlike a train or whatnot they can't really escape a driver only being able to move 80 passengers or less at once. It's the same conundrum that plagues Uber etc.

I use urban buses to get into work and that's only because I get a cut price unirider season, once I lose that in a few months that will probably be the end of it even though hopefully my commute will not have changed.

Urban buses often seem to spend more time stopped than moving, which makes them less attractive to customers and increases the staff requirements even further.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Urban buses often seem to spend more time stopped than moving, which makes them less attractive to customers and increases the staff requirements even further.

And yet most bus companies are unwilling to do things to help solve that, e.g. to speed up ticketing which on busy routes is a huge slowdown. It's bizarre.

Yes, infrastructure is needed too, but you've got a better case to push for that when you've done everything you can do yourself first.

 

[Ken H]

Ultimately the bus industry has a serious problem in that staff are really expensive and are only going to get more so.

And unlike a train or whatnot they can't really escape a driver only being able to move 80 passengers or less at once. It's the same conundrum that plagues Uber etc.

I use urban buses to get into work and that's only because I get a cut price unirider season, once I lose that in a few months that will probably be the end of it even though hopefully my commute will not have changed.

Urban buses often seem to spend more time stopped than moving, which makes them less attractive to customers and increases the staff requirements even further.

And they dive off the obvious route to serve an area that should have its own route but doesnt (cos of cost). So people shun the bus if they are going further so less passengers.
The Keighley B3 cant decide if its a local service service Haworth and Oxenhope, or a Keighley - Hebden bridge inter urban bus. Which is why there were only 3 of us in the 13:05 service this Monday (20th) once it left Oxenhope to go over the moors.

 

[nw1]

Are buses full at rush hours any more? With working from home and internet shopping the city centres are dying, and with it commuting. The days of buses leaving every 2-3 minutes with 70+ people on board have gone..
Public transport will ned to reinvent itself.

In my experience buses (this is in the south of England, outside London) are still pretty full in the morning rush hour for those needing to be in work for a 9am start. Probably comparable to 2019.

Saturdays are often extremely full leaving larger towns around 5-6pm, which suggests that weekends might be partially making up for lower loads during the week.

 

[GusB]

The topic of the thread is "Bus industry in Peril". A load of posts have been removed because they had nothing to do with the subject that's being discussed. If you see that a post is slightly off-topic do not reply to it, but report the post instead and we'll deal with it.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And yet most bus companies are unwilling to do things to help solve that, e.g. to speed up ticketing which on busy routes is a huge slowdown. It's bizarre.

Yes, infrastructure is needed too, but you've got a better case to push for that when you've done everything you can do yourself first.

You say that but what are operators to do? I witnessed an example today... Bus comes to stop (I was walking past) and the passenger literally gets on and the whole transaction is probably 5-10 seconds. The bus spent more time trying to exit the bus layby and when it did, it was stuck in the same traffic heading into Bath.

First have locally pushed mobile tickets and other off bus options. Short of mandating it (cue pictures in press of sad looking people waving their 3310 as they don't have a smartphone)

 

[Edsmith]

And the barrier to entry for home delivery and the likes is much lower, because the vehicles used are 3500kg gross vehicle weight and as such can be driven on a regular car

Yes far fewer hoops to jump through for van driving and often wages are similar and with more sociable hours.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jun 2022 ==

You say that but what are operators to do? I witnessed an example today... Bus comes to stop (I was walking past) and the passenger literally gets on and the whole transaction is probably 5-10 seconds. The bus spent more time trying to exit the bus layby and when it did, it was stuck in the same traffic heading into Bath.

First have locally pushed mobile tickets and other off bus options. Short of mandating it (cue pictures in press of sad looking people waving their 3310 as they don't have a smartphone)

Another thing is that bus drivers are expected to wait until passengers have sat down before pulling away to reduce the risk of mishaps and compensation claims.