Bus Vannin in Crisis

[Declan]

The point, from a passengers perspective, is not the individual wait time at any given moment you might randomly turn up at the stop, which has always been variable and anyway there's a bus timetable to help with that. But what your maximum potential wait time is and that's only increased from 15 minutes to 20 minutes

[Ringy Rose]

32 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

suspect this goes back to Longworth's legacy of relying increasingly on casual drivers and reducing the number of full-timers.

It does: the reduction on the south and Peel routes was brought in as a “temporary measure” last summer to deal with the driver shortage. As was the halving of the service up Saddlestone and on to Foxdale and the complete cancellation of the Groudle bus.

The “temporary measure” has now survived two timetable changes.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Ringy Rose

[Declan]

Longwith's plan was to have the buses on the road constantly. Maximizing the use of these assets.

However, the four an hour schedule meant there was little slack in the system. So in the summer when there was driver shortages, extra journey length with the Castletown one-way, increased use on warmer days, there was extra strain on the system and chaos ensued. 

Now reliability has improved and with the PSM issue fixed the timetable isn't too bad aside from the capacity issue. I'd be fine with the reduced service if it freed up buses to cover Upper Douglas, Foxdale, Peel to South, the Southern Villages etc. But it doesn't seem to have done that either. 

[WTF]

2 hours ago, Ringy Rose said:

It’s not just the wait, though, it’s the capacity, with four buses of people on three buses. You can really tell the difference, especially on a nice day and at peak times.

 

are they 1/4 full now then ?

[Two-lane]

The last time I was on a bus there were warning signs instructing passengers to remain seated while the bus was in motion. Safety being the reason.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Two-lane

[Albert Tatlock]

They doubled the volume of people on the buses...simply by employing a lot of fat drivers.

 

.

[Albert Tatlock]

4 hours ago, Declan said:

Capacity is the main issue at certain times. 

Brain-capacity was always the main issue when Longtail was in charge.

[Ringy Rose]

4 hours ago, Declan said:

So in the summer when there was driver shortages, extra journey length with the Castletown one-way, increased use on warmer days, there was extra strain on the system and chaos ensued.

The issue was the drivers. Everything else followed on from that. The issue wasn’t late running, the issue was short-notice cancellations. That caused everything to fall over as you had extended dwell times, overcrowding, etc, when you got a couple of cancellations in a row.

The “temporary timetable” was a sensible and pragmatic solution, but Chris Thomas tells us sincerely that the driver shortage is resolved.

Chris Thomas surely can’t be lying about that too?

Edited April 24, 2023 by Ringy Rose

[Dirty Buggane]

Oh he surely can, in as many word as he can to try and disguise the bullshit he is spewing.

[Nellie]

While departing Douglas on the steam train today, I noted several more brand new Mercedes Sprinter mini-buses at the bus depot. Checking on the registration database there are at least twelve. That's around a £1m worth. 

Why on earth do we need these, when there are already dozens of super-low-mileage ones parked around the Island doing nothing?

[woolley]

20 minutes ago, Nellie said:

While departing Douglas on the steam train today, I noted several more brand new Mercedes Sprinter mini-buses at the bus depot. Checking on the registration database there are at least twelve. That's around a £1m worth. 

Why on earth do we need these, when there are already dozens of super-low-mileage ones parked around the Island doing nothing?

We signed up to take a dozen a year from them until 2099. (kidding 🙃 )

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

2 minutes ago, woolley said:

We signed up to take a dozen a year from them until 2099. (kidding 🙃 )

Many a true word spoken in jest.

[Omobono]

time for the matter be refered to the public accounts committee , I thought we were skint and supposed to be pulling our horns in ?

[Mouthpiece]

41 minutes ago, Nellie said:

Why on earth do we need these, when there are already dozens of super-low-mileage ones parked around the Island doing nothing?

Rumours are Tours IOM is up for sale on the back of the latest multi million pound investment by Bus Vannin. Cruise Ship bookings for 2024 might be a bit tight unless they have to pull all public tax payer funded services to cover the work. 

[Fred the shred]

There are quite a few of these tied up with patient transport a very welcome service especially as there are more clinics at RCH and Nobles are always busy .   They are a vital service for transporting patients who need support , walking frames, wheelchairs and patients from nursing homes who need to attend clinics the driver and escort are experienced in dealing with less able people.