red arrow
‘good recovery’

Cutting out stops to keep on time was a painful decision to take – but red arrow punctuality is now back on track.

In June, 13 red arrow stops between Derby and Chesterfield were taken out after complaints from long distance travellers about poor punctuality. Tests went on to prove that we could no longer maintain our timetable thanks to worsening traffic.

Now Brand Manager Adrian Cadd is reporting that the popular coach route has made a good recovery:

“No-one on the team liked the idea of cuts that would cost us customers – but poor timekeeping was putting off the long distance travellers who are the mainstay of red arrow – and it was starting to get this top brand a bad name. Something had to be done.

“We’ve achieved what we set out to do, and we have satisfied the majority. I can now be confident that red arrow is not overrunning its timetable like it did before the change.

“Losing the stops, including the village of Swanwick, was a high price to pay. But we faced the issue head on and also made sure that we told the parish councils and the media well in advance. Far from wanting to duck the issue we are keen to make the point that many more decisions like this will have to be made by bus operators unless politicians are prepared to give road priority to buses at the expense of private cars.

“We need more help from local authorities to get us through the jams if this sort of problem is to be avoided in future.

“And it is to be hoped that what we have done will stand the test of time- because we are fast running out of options if traffic congestion should get much worse”.

Bardills open early
but more A52 misery to come

The major works at Bardills roundabout on the A52 between Nottingham and Derby opened ahead of schedule in early August. Early indications are that the traffic lights and new layout have improved the flow of traffic. But severe disruption now threatens the eastern A52 between Nottingham and Bingham in the run up to Christmas.

Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell said:

“Credit where it is due; the Highways Agency managed this project well – especially by closing off the M1 slip road on to the Nottingham-bound A52 to lighten congestion. Our red arrow and transpeak coaches were able to get through pretty well.

“Now we hear that the A52 dual carriageway between Radcliffe and Gamston will be reduced to one carriageway during rebuilding work this autumn – right up to Christmas. This will cause serious delays to our radcliffe line, xprss and cotgrave connection brands at the busiest time of the year.

“This notorious road is already a battlefield for traffic and we want to see the Authorities doing all they can to minimise the effect on public transport. This should be viewed as an opportunity to persuade people not to bring cars into the City – provided we can actually get through with buses”.

‘Beyond a joke’
Optare agree to re-work Tempos

After a catalogue of quality control problems with our new Optare Tempo single deck buses and a top-level meeting with Optare, the manufacturer has agreed to take the buses back one by one and sort out the defects once and for all.

Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell said:

“We are used to a few teething troubles with new vehicles, but this has gone beyond a joke.

“In fact, although the Tempos are only 5% of our total fleet, they account for a staggering 16% of all vehicle failures. And they are brand new; we are supposed to be able to use them in daily service without having to cross our fingers.”

Jeff described some of the issues –buses shaking and rattling over the slightest bumps, brackets sheering in half, windscreens breaking, rainwater pouring in through leaking roof panels, fuel tanks leaking despite repair, electrical breakdowns, suspension problems, design faults and failures in new components, complete failure of a differential unit…and on it goes.

“You would not put up with anything like it in a new car; you’d send it straight back as being unfit for purpose.

“It is a terrible shame, because the design features of the Tempos which we worked on with designer Ray Stenning are so eye-catching and our customers really like them – but to cover the failures we’ve had to turn out too many of our older spare buses at short notice, which has damaged our image”.

Jeff said that Optare had been given until September 16th to sort the Tempos once and for all:

“That’s the date that four of the last six Tempos will be entering service on the keyworth connection.

“This is a brand that has been doing well of late and we see potential for market growth. We are confident that the good looks and customer comforts of the new Tempos will go down well in the Keyworth community – but first of all they have to be reliable”.

‘Back to drawing board’ for next year’s new buses
New models on trial

With a number of our top brands (including rainbow 5 Derby – Nottingham via Long Eaton) due for new buses next year, the shortlist for contenders is now being narrowed down.

A Scania Omnicity demonstrator has been put through its paces on rainbow 1 – our established testing ground.

Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell said;

“We had hoped to be buying Optare Tempos for rainbow 5 but in view of recent problems we’ve had to go back to the drawing board.

“We’ve been to various parts of the country to see Volvo and Mercedes products in service, and we also like to try them out on our own routes whenever we get the opportunity.

“We have put the Omnicity demonstrator through its paces, looking at build quality, customer comforts, drivers’ reactions, engineering and fuel economy.

“As our 2008 order is likely to be the biggest for some years we are keen to get on to the order books with a chosen manufacturer as soon as we can”.

STOP PRESS
Bid fails - Bus Lane Stays

An attempt by Derby’s Conservatives to scrap the new Duffield Road Bus Lane has failed. In a vote at a full Council Meeting on September 12th, all Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted against the Conservative call for the lane to be removed.

trent barton Commercial Director Ian Morgan described the outcome as a vote for commonsense:

“We have already congratulated Derby City for putting the needs of the many ahead of the needs of a few.

“Half a million bus passengers have seen the benefit of the new bus lane. Everyone who chooses the bus is doing good for the local environment”.

FOOTNOTE: In an independent survey on the sixes bus routes in Spring, one person in three said they expected to travel by bus more often thanks to the new bus lane. 39% could have used a car instead.

Countdown to MANGO
All systems go

Our new ticket machine and MANGO smart card readers are now rolling off the production line for our rainbow 4 (Nottingham – Derby via Sandiacre) trial, set for September 24th.

Recruitment leaflets on rainbow 4 have produced an enthusiastic response from customers keen to put the unique MANGO smartcard through its paces for us.

MANGO acts as an ‘electronic purse’ – you charge it up on line and then the reader on the bus deducts the right fare for your journey every time you travel. mango customers will automatically qualify for a discount of 25% on single fares (roughly the same as our 13-trip FRIO ticket) and no matter how many times they travel after 9am, it won’t cost more than £4.20 - the same as our daily go-anywhere ZigZag ticket.

IT Manager Mark Greasley, who is leading the MANGO project, said:

“Our special panel of volunteers will get a free £5 worth of travel when they register on line, and after that we’ll match them pound for pound.

“The volunteers have been selected to represent as many different types of bus customer as we can think of. We need them to be ruthless and put MANGO through its paces so that we can do any necessary fine tuning before bringing this new product to a wider market.

“We’ll be organising briefing sessions for our volunteers (with free MANGO juice provided!) so that we can keep in touch with each other and gather their comments.

“In the meantime we have already fitted the new equipment to the first bus and I’m delighted to say it works smoothly.

“The system is similar to the one used in London for the ‘Oyster’ card. But Oyster on buses is a flat fare system. One of the things that makes MANGO unique is that the machines use GPS tracking to work out the fares automatically from any point.

“This is a big investment, and it will give us the opportunity to speed up transaction times at the stop without losing the personal touch. Our timekeeping is bound to improve which will be a bonus for everyone. We will be able to create tailor made loyalty discounts for regular customers without the need to extend the range of cumbersome paper-based ticketing – and there’ll be less cash to handle.

“In short, MANGO has the potential to revolutionise our business”.

Wider in Allestree

Customers in Allestree were overjoyed to get their familiar buses back – even if they scarcely recognised them after their stylish makeover.

New slimline buses (specially ordered for the narrow campus roads of Loughborough University) were drafted in to keep allestree running while the fleet of 6 resident buses were brought into our workshops for a complete refurbishment.

They are now back on familiar ground wearing Best Impressions designer Ray Stenning’s latest creation in two tone grey – complete with our trademark ‘murals’ of local scenes inside.

In the meantime the new slimline buses have been transferred to Kinchbus in time for the start of the University term. They now carry branding for sprint – a new service linking the University and the town centre.

Photos: the new-look Allestree buses. Note the adverts for Derby’s new Westfield Centre, set to open in early October.

‘Buses are OK’ says Government poll
trent barton way ahead

Almost three quarters of people up and own the country are pleased with their local bus service – according to household research just published by the Department for Transport.

92% were within easy walking distance of a bus service, and one person in four said that they used the bus at least once a week. 72% rated their local service as good or fairly good.

Bus use in the UK rose by 4% overall in the year 2005-6; the percentage of Low Floor, Easy access buses in use also rose from 50% to 58%.

trent barton Commercial Director Ian Morgan commented:

“This is encouraging research – it shows that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the nation’s buses.

“It also helps to show how success comes from going the extra mile on quality. For example, our customer satisfaction marks regularly exceed 90% and it is not uncommon to find 50-60% of our customers travelling with us on 3 days a week or more.

“Our investment in one of the first 100% low floor bus fleets in the land has clearly paid dividends, but it is our friendliness, clean buses and consistency – coupled with high profile branding and marketing, that keeps us in front”.

Congratulations to Brenda Haywood (top left) from Langley Mill and to Len Carpenter (top right) and Ken Jones (above left) from Broadmarsh for their success in achieving NVQs

5 under pressure
“We cannot wait for the tram”

Our busiest brand, and the highest frequency service in our history, rainbow 5 between Derby and Nottingham via Long Eaton is fighting a losing battle against traffic despite heroic efforts by Cherryl Holland’s team.

Cherryl said:

“Our buses are all leaving Broadmarsh spot on time but on such a high frequency it doesn’t take much for them to bunch together. A minute or so down and you are starting to pick up extra customers while the bus behind you has an easier time. This has a knock-on effect right along the route.

“We have two extra buses permanently built into the schedule, so we have the ability to push buses up to keep them on time. At busy times our ‘str8 on’ desk at Broadmarsh takes care of all ticket transactions before people board.

“This has worked well up to now, but the traffic just keeps piling up and no two days are the same.

“There is talk of buses and trams having shared priority between Beeston and Nottingham.

“We like the idea of public transport getting a fast track that other vehicles cannot use. But we can’t wait for the tram to start – that’s years away. We need priorities for rainbow 5 between Long Eaton, Beeston and Nottingham – and we need them now.

“In the meantime we are racking our brains to see how we can adjust our schedules to take account of the worsening conditions on the road – that isn’t going to be easy”.

Latest Hot Spots published

Hot Spots are our annual guide to the places where buses need help to get through.

Using detailed knowledge fed in by our Brand Managers and their teams, we have updated our catalogue of pinch points and bottlenecks where a bit of creative thinking (but not necessarily a lot of expenditure) could make a difference to bus timekeeping.

The Hot Spots reports have been published on our web site and will be sent to local councils, MPs, media and pressure groups.  click here to view our Hot Spots report.

Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell said:

“Hot Spots give a driver’s eye view of the daily problems experienced by bus customers. Punctuality is the customer’s top priority by far. No matter how brilliant our customer care, we are still at the mercy of traffic when it comes to keeping customers satisfied.

“And it’s not all about big money schemes. In many cases, selfish and lazy parking brings traffic to a halt – when there are plenty of off-highway spaces a stone’s throw away. Plenty of examples come to mind – on the hill outside Grice’s at Ruddington; Spondon Village, Mickleover Vicarage Road, Ilkeston South Street, Alfreton Town Centre and a host of streets in Belper.

“In other places we might be looking for traffic signals to be rephrased or for some adjustment to kerb lines to make it easier for a bus to turn left without waiting for gaps in oncoming traffic.

“And in a few more cases we’re asking the local council to finish the job they started. The Costco Bus Lane in Derby is a good example: it was a creative idea to make a short cut for buses alongside the gummed-up A52, but we can’t get back into the traffic at the Pentagon lights – we need a cut through to an advance stop line for buses at the head of the queue.

“We are pleased to report some progress in Hot Spots, such as the new Duffield Road bus lane in Derby and the re-phased Chain Lane traffic lights on the Mickleover route, both successful.

“But we are also disappointed to report in 2007 that action promised after last year’s Hot Spots has still not materialised – Chilwell and Toton, for example. These schemes are now even more urgent because traffic has inevitably increased in the meantime” (see ‘5 under pressure’ above)

Draft Local Transport Bill
Consultation deadline passes

Consultation on the Government’s Draft Local Transport Bill closed on 7 September.

trent barton has submitted a 16 page response to the Draft Bill which is expected to be put before Parliament early next year. The document will be also be sent to all our local MPs and we will offer to brief them more fully on our views if any want us to do so.

“We strongly agree with the Government’s key objectives – to tackle congestion and improve public transport – and for this reason we welcome the Bill” said Commercial Director, Ian Morgan.

“We need to harness the complementary skills of bus operators and local authorities in strong, effective partnerships to improve the quality of bus services.” He went on.

“At trent barton we have demonstrated our ability to improve public transport and respond to customer demand by thorough market research, innovation, obsessive customer focus, flexible pricing, imaginative marketing, and attention to detail. On the other hand local authorities have the skills and resources to help us to improve our services by providing infrastructure, bus priorities, travel planning, security and other facilities all of which have the potential to achieve modal shift when combined with our commercial expertise.

“Moreover we can move quickly to meet new challenges, solve problems and withdraw promptly from the occasional but inevitable failure, whilst the authorities are experienced in meeting the transport needs of groups who would otherwise be disadvantaged.

“We need to work together in partnership and bring together our respective skills to achieve the Government’s objectives. Private/public partnerships work well in so many other walks of life and there is no reason why public transport should be an exception.”

But the area that offers the greatest challenge and potentially the most reward is the proposal to tackle punctuality.

Mr Morgan said “We have made it clear in our response that the Government is absolutely right in making punctuality the cornerstone of its proposals. It is by far the most important part of the draft Bill and our customers’ top priority. Nothing else in the Bill will have the same impact on improving bus services.

“We welcome the new recognition that local authorities, as well as bus operators, can influence bus punctuality, and should be held accountable for their actions or lack of them.

We don’t want to see anymore stops or sections of route withdrawn in order to maintain punctuality. (A reference to the recent red arrow route changes forced on the company) We want sensible bus priority and traffic management measures so that we can continue serving the communities that depend on our services” he added.

Branding Works!
Happy Birthday amberline

What happens when you take an ordinary bus service – the 125 – then give the buses a complete makeover and a new brand?

More people use it!

The timetable has stayed exactly the same, but in the year since its rebranding as amberline, the Derby-Horsley-Heanor-Eastwood-Hucknall brand has seen revenue growth of almost 10%.

Slow year for retail?
trent barton travellers buck trend

UK retailers are reporting a poor summer, but trent barton customers are shopping in style.

Bad weather has hit a number of retailers, especially those who trade out of town. JJB Sports and Next, for example, are reporting poor figures, while John Lewis says that business at its department stores is good.

trent barton Commercial Director Ian Morgan said:

“Analysts agree that clothing and outfitting is still very big business. On top of this, there’s the ‘coffee culture’ where people go to town just to relax with friends. We are fortunate to have a vibrant city like Nottingham at the heart of our business – and more of the same in October when Westfield Derby opens its doors.

“This sort of footfall is ideal for our business. We have made sure that the quality is there for our customers every time. That keeps people coming back for more.

“And although the weather has hit a lot of businesses this year, it must be true that people keep away from city centres if it gets too hot and sunny.”