West Yorkshire bus franchising

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes I get that but a franchising authority has more to gain in reducing operating costs by implementing bus priority measures.

When I read your line...

This is one of the arguments in favour of franchising. Authorities restricting private vehicle access only improve things for private operators whereas under franchising it would be the authorities themselves who reaped any rewards from faster running times due to less traffic.

...my first thought was the passenger - they should be the ones getting the reward.

Perhaps a slightly different way of approaching it is for local authorities to recognise it is in their interest to sort it out... full stop. Unfortunately, politics and finances often get in the way.

 

[Deerfold]

There's been a few areas in West Yorkshire where roads have been improved for buses and then the operator has changed the route to not use the improved section.
There should be more coordination so such waste doesn't happen.

 

[Megafuss]

When I read your line...


...my first thought was the passenger - they should be the ones getting the reward.

Perhaps a slightly different way of approaching it is for local authorities to recognise it is in their interest to sort it out... full stop. Unfortunately, politics and finances often get in the way.

Don't hold your breath

At a bus franchising event a few weeks ago, I asked whether operational coordination between bus authorities and highway planning teams had improved in franchised areas. The answer was a definitive...NO...beyond an initial surge during the very first week

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Don't hold your breath

At a bus franchising event a few weeks ago, I asked whether operational coordination between bus authorities and highway planning teams had improved in franchised areas. The answer was a definitive...NO...beyond an initial surge during the very first week

I am not holding my breath.

As we've already seen in Greater Manchester, they've tackled the issue of congestion by simply adding more vehicles into the PVR of certain routes. The issue is that the Combined Authority run the transport but the roads and parking are the preserve of the local councils. Whilst the CA is made up of council reps, that divide is a significant challenge.

 

[Andyh82]

There's been a few areas in West Yorkshire where roads have been improved for buses and then the operator has changed the route to not use the improved section.
There should be more coordination so such waste doesn't happen.

Where are these places you speak of?

 

[johncrossley]

What's insane (I don't know if these are the areas being referred to) is that there are some roads in Leeds and maybe elsewhere in West Yorkshire where there are two bus stops at each location, one on the guided busway and a regular bus stop at the kerb for buses without guidewheels.

 

[tomoufc]

Looking forward to discussing the rollout of franchising, rather than revising arguments over whether it should be happening at all.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There's been a few areas in West Yorkshire where roads have been improved for buses and then the operator has changed the route to not use the improved section.
There should be more coordination so such waste doesn't happen.

Or places where one team have put in raised kerbs to assist with level boarding onto buses, only for another team to come along and install a bus shelter with a solid panel blocking that raised kerb!

 

[TheWierdOne]

I'm not sure where you would put light rail if there isn't room for a bus lane.

In the case of the Otley Road it was planned to have the light rail dip on and off the road at strategic points.

 

[Ballyheigue]

In the case of the Otley Road it was planned to have the light rail dip on and off the road at strategic points.

Yes, I do believe it was to use all that land at the side of Headingley Lane and Otley Road from Woodhouse Moor via the Ridge through to Far Headingley before using Otley Road again. It would have meant the demolition of woodland and properties but it's needed. Hinsley Hall I believe would have been one of the stops used for Headingley stadium as it's a short walk from it's entrance to the stadium.

 

[John HG1]

Yes, I do believe it was to use all that land at the side of Headingley Lane and Otley Road from Woodhouse Moor via the Ridge through to Far Headingley before using Otley Road again. It would have meant the demolition of woodland and properties but it's needed. Hinsley Hall I believe would have been one of the stops used for Headingley stadium as it's a short walk from it's entrance to the stadium.

In which case the land could be used for a bus lane.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

There's been a few areas in West Yorkshire where roads have been improved for buses and then the operator has changed the route to not use the improved section.
There should be more coordination so such waste doesn't happen.

Where are these places you speak of?

I was wondering where these places are too?

Often bus lanes and other improvements are created on the edges of city centres and into suburbia where there is the most space. However, it can also be where the headways thin out and so it undermines the very argument dedicating road space to buses.

Yes, I do believe it was to use all that land at the side of Headingley Lane and Otley Road from Woodhouse Moor via the Ridge through to Far Headingley before using Otley Road again. It would have meant the demolition of woodland and properties but it's needed. Hinsley Hall I believe would have been one of the stops used for Headingley stadium as it's a short walk from it's entrance to the stadium.

Excuse my scepticism but they haven't been able to get the trams for the first two lines to from Leeds to Bradford and to St James and White Rose built. The idea of demolishing houses on the Headingley Road won't be happening in my lifetime.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

What's insane (I don't know if these are the areas being referred to) is that there are some roads in Leeds and maybe elsewhere in West Yorkshire where there are two bus stops at each location, one on the guided busway and a regular bus stop at the kerb for buses without guidewheels.

There has to be. Non-guided buses cannot use the guideway, and to have the guided buses going off and back on again at each stop would make the journey so slow as to be useless.
If you take York Road in Leeds as an example Metro did scope out the operators with a view to having all buses on the guideway, but understandably Yorkshire Coastliner and Arriva Selby were unwilling to fit their vehicles as it represented a tiny proportion of the routes involved, plus Coastliner don't serve all stops and it would have been detrimental to have their bus stuck in the guideway behind a 40 or similar calling at every lamp post.