Bus Vannin in Crisis

[Andy Onchan]

2 minutes ago, Steve_Christian said:

So loss making and higher taxes? 

Very, very few publicly funded transport systems make a profit. Why do you think ours should?

[A fool and his money.....]

4 minutes ago, Steve_Christian said:

So loss making and higher taxes? 

The point is that the activities to offset the costs should be a lower (much lower) priority than providing the public service. It's madness to be running around doing private hires in the early hours of the morning while they are cancelling services at that time.

It was the same in the summer, ferrying around cruise ship passengers which services were cancelled left right and centre.

It's the tail wagging the dog. They shouldn't run private hires at all until they are operating a full, reliable public service first.

[Ringy Rose]

15 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

It's madness to be running around doing private hires in the early hours of the morning while they are cancelling services at that time.

In fairness, the 0015 Night Owls were not cancelled, they all ran. The 0115 Night Owls were never timetabled to run this year, in the same way both the Peel and South routes have fewer timetabled buses than before.

I agree though. BV shouldn't be taking custom off Tours until they get the timetable back to where it was.

[Roger Mexico]

3 hours ago, Ringy Rose said:

In fairness, the 0015 Night Owls were not cancelled, they all ran. The 0115 Night Owls were never timetabled to run this year, in the same way both the Peel and South routes have fewer timetabled buses than before.

I agree though. BV shouldn't be taking custom off Tours until they get the timetable back to where it was.

The 0115 Night Owls have run in previous years though and obviously make a lot of sense on Christmas and New Year's Eves.  I doubt they take much from either Tours or taxis, because if those aren't fully booked on those nights, they never will be., it's more the extra Night Owls, mean that people who want to go out to Douglas on those nights, can[1].

You're right they were never timetabled for 2022, but it's difficult to see how they knew that they wouldn't have the staff to run just six extra buses that far ahead, so it must have been a deliberate policy decision made by management (I get the impression that Chris Thomas didn't know till recently).  Whether this is a leftover from Longworth or more recent I don't know.

If there are private hire bookings on those dates (and there may not be, most corporate stuff will be earlier in the month), then those probably are a leftover from Longworth because of the need to book ahead.  But they do need to examine all their 'commercial' work in the light of what the true costs actually are.

 

[1]  In fact there aren't even the normal 0015 Night Owls on Christmas Eve, despite it being a Saturday.

[Boris Johnson]

On 12/20/2022 at 1:06 PM, Steve_Christian said:

No it is literally the job of BV to be not one thing or the other. It is a service to the community which means it has a duty to run unprofitable routes - and it has a duty to try and make up for this with profitable routes and initiatives like private hire. It can’t be one thing or the other. It has to be both. 

But that means undercutting private business with rates that are quite clearly unprofitable in a commercial sense.

£10 FOR A RIDE FROM THE NORTH TO THE AIRPORT IS NOT A COMMERCIAL RATE.

It is just fucking wrong on all sorts of levels. 

[CallMeCurious]

As an aside, encouraging people to stay out longer with a guaranteed, safe, cheap and legal form of transport home also helps the hospitality industry too, after two desperate years.

 

 

[0bserver]

45 minutes ago, CallMeCurious said:

As an aside, encouraging people to stay out longer with a guaranteed, safe, cheap and legal form of transport home also helps the hospitality industry too, after two desperate years.

 

 

Tbf it's not guaranteed as your seat isn't reserved. 

[Roger Mexico]

Just now, 0bserver said:

Tbf it's not guaranteed as your seat isn't reserved. 

I suspect they're going to try to avoid turning people away.  But it's not just the number travelling that such things are important for - it's the security.  So people will go in knowing they have that back up, even if they end up catching an earlier bus or cadging a lift of a friend.

[Ringy Rose]

2 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

I get the impression that Chris Thomas didn't know till recently

Even the police were posting about the 0115 last bus on Facebook. It was very much sneaked in with the September timetable, along with the cuts to the Douglas-Peel and Douglas-Port Erin routes and the cuts to some of the Douglas estate buses.

Sneaky cuts were always a Longworth speciality.

[The Voice of Reason]

2 hours ago, Boris Johnson said:

But that means undercutting private business with rates that are quite clearly unprofitable in a commercial sense.

£10 FOR A RIDE FROM THE NORTH TO THE AIRPORT IS NOT A COMMERCIAL RATE.

Of course it’s not. But neither is my ride from Ramsey  to Douglas on Bus Vannin for £2.00 a commercial rate.

Extrapolate that to for a journey to the airport from Ramsey it comes out at a lot less than £10.00

The taxi fare ( private business) for the journey  from Ramsey to Douglas is vice is circa £40 or so.

If I asked Tours for a quote to take myself and a partner perhaps from Ramsey to the airport  I am sure it would quite rightly be more than that.

Not sure what you are trying to say.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Great to see them focussing on the important stuff 

https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-transport-introduces-go-cards-for-dogs-584185

[BriT]

25 minutes ago, Steady Eddie said:

Great to see them focussing on the important stuff 

https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-transport-introduces-go-cards-for-dogs-584185

Without a Go Card it costs a dog 30p a journey 😂

[Numbnuts]

2 minutes ago, BriT said:

Without a Go Card it costs a dog 30p a journey 😂

Do they use there debit card then to pay 😉

[BriT]

3 minutes ago, Numbnuts said:

Do they use there debit card then to pay 😉

Or put their little paws into their doggy wallet for some change 😂

[Passing Time]

11 minutes ago, BriT said:

Or put their little paws into their doggy wallet for some change 😂

As long as they don't try and use a £50 note...