New bus timetables again - complete government idiocy again

[Max Power 6,603]

1 minute ago, Fuller K Rapp said:

I assume that's a joke? The bus timetable is for all year, not seasonal.

That was the reason for changing the timetable to a summer version when we had a tourist industry. There were additional summer routes, such as, White City, Derby Castle, Douglas Head, Port Soderick etc. I'm not sure that they have any need for that now? 

[Fuller K Rapp 62]

Bus timetables are for the whole year, we don't have seasonal ones. 

 

We do get special Motorcycling Festivsl period timetables but everybody knows about them and to adjust our planning accordingly.

[TheTeapot 10,673]

I would like them to run some evening No 8 buses over the summer to allow people from the west to take in the delights of the south, and vice versa, instead of having to spend 4 hours on the bus to have some pints in the Creek. I reckon if they just ran each way around 7-8 and 11-12pm on Fridays and Saturdays they'd prove pretty popular. If the foxdale road ever opens again anyway.

 

[dilligaf 9,447]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

By the sounds of it the street is the one place that the information hasn't got to.  There was a piece in Isle of Man Newspapers however:

 

(linked added by me).  It does seem fairly minor on the whole (the Port Erin buses leave a minute later for example and the 1H didn't go to the Hospital in the evening anyway).  The failure to get timetables out on time (again!) suggests an underlying managerial incompetence - but we knew that anyway.  At least this time they haven't overwritten the old timetables when they are still in force.

 

Well pointed out.

Maybe if Llaps  (FKR's ) old friends don't like it they can protest by not paying. Oh, they don't.

[hboy 1,996]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

The failure to get timetables out on time (again!) suggests an underlying managerial incompetence - but we knew that anyway.  At least this time they haven't overwritten the old timetables when they are still in force.

 

I doubt the incompetence is underlying or latent. It's maybe more a signal of them basking in their incompetence. I mean all they really need to do is print and publish an accurate time table for use by their customers; and they don't seem to be able to do that. I wonder what their KPIs are for this year in the office - getting out of bed, making a cup of tea, and sitting on the toilet the right way round? 

[Roger Mexico 10,014]

1 hour ago, TheTeapot said:

I would like them to run some evening No 8 buses over the summer to allow people from the west to take in the delights of the south, and vice versa, instead of having to spend 4 hours on the bus to have some pints in the Creek. I reckon if they just ran each way around 7-8 and 11-12pm on Fridays and Saturdays they'd prove pretty popular. If the foxdale road ever opens again anyway.

Interestingly there is no trace whatever of the 8 in the new timetable, just the comment "During the Higher Foxdale road closure it is not possible to travel between Peel and Castletown directly, please use Service 5, 5C or 6 to travel to Douglas and then Service 1 or 2 to Castletown and Port Erin".  Maybe they are intending to produce yet another timetable when the road reopens (scheduled 31 Jul) or hoping to get rid of the service completely.

[Declan 7,333]

It's a pity that's always been an afterthought of a route because it completes the circular nature of the bus network. Changing at Peel to go onto Kirk Michael and Ramsey without having to visit Douglas would is a more pleasant journey.

[Jefferson Davis 19]

18 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

By the sounds of it the street is the one place that the information hasn't got to.  There was a piece in Isle of Man Newspapers however:

 

(linked added by me).  It does seem fairly minor on the whole (the Port Erin buses leave a minute later for example and the 1H didn't go to the Hospital in the evening anyway).  The failure to get timetables out on time (again!) suggests an underlying managerial incompetence - but we knew that anyway.  At least this time they haven't overwritten the old timetables when they are still in force.

 

 

Assuming that online article appeared in the Courier, it doesn't actually specify what the changes are and it presumes that the reader has access to the internet to find out. There's also an assumption that people read the Courier. I don't and I probably speak for about 80,000 other people who immediately throw it in the bin.

[Roger Mexico 10,014]

49 minutes ago, Jefferson Davis said:

Assuming that online article appeared in the Courier, it doesn't actually specify what the changes are and it presumes that the reader has access to the internet to find out. There's also an assumption that people read the Courier. I don't and I probably speak for about 80,000 other people who immediately throw it in the bin.

It is indeed in the Courier (page 8), and although many people don't read the Courier, I suspect the people who don't have internet access will be the sort that do.  Right after checking they're not in the obituaries.  Presumably it is assumed they will then look things up online (they may have access, but not use it much) or get someone to do it for them.

As with most 'news items' that appear in the Manx media, the Courier piece was an edited and uncredited IOMG press release.  This is worth quoting in full to show the differences:

 

Quote

 

New bus timetable from 1 May 2017

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Minor changes to bus vannin services will be introduced on Monday 1 May 2017.

The timetable is regularly reviewed in response to passenger feedback and operational requirements.

The new timetables can be accessed online at www.gov.im/2017timetables and printed versions will be available soon.

Ian Longworth, Director of Transport, said:

‘2016 witnessed a record number of passenger trips, with a total of 3,485,164 journeys taken on bus vannin services.

‘We are constantly reviewing how we can improve the passenger journey to ensure customers have a seamless experience to their destination.

‘The main timetable changes to highlight are the fact that some buses from Ramsey and Peel going into Douglas will now depart 5 minutes earlier, so if you regularly use this service please ensure you check this out.’

Other key changes to the timetable are:

Service 1, 1H, 2, 2A, 11, 12, 12A, 9

• The late afternoon/early evening 15-minute service from Douglas to Port Erin will now commence earlier.
• Services 9 and 1 will now serve Newlands shelter after departing the main hospital entrance.
• The evening Sunday service 1H to/from Hailwood Avenue will now be renumbered to 1.

Service 3/3A/X3

• The separation of the journeys to the Ramsey Estates as services OT & CL.
• Revision to Sunday departure times from Ramsey to reflect the Monday to Saturday timetables. 

Service 4,4C

• Service 4C introduced between Douglas, Higher Foxdale and Castletown. When the road in Foxdale re-opens this will provide an hourly service between Foxdale and Douglas.
• While the road is still closed a revised temporary timetable is in operation.

Service 5, 5A, 5C, 6, 6C

• Revised Monday to Sunday daytime Ramsey and Peel to Douglas departure times - generally 5 minutes earlier than at present.
• An enhanced service in Peel to provide direct buses between Peel Promenade, Peveril Road and Ballawattleworth to Douglas.

Service 8, 8A

• Service to be withdrawn and replaced by 4C once the Foxdale road reopens. 

Service 17, 17K, 18, 18K, 19C, 20, 20A

• Most daytime journeys retimed to depart Ramsey Bus Station 5 minutes earlier.
• Route revised in Jurby to operate via the Industrial Estate (as currently on Sundays).
• Sunday Service has been revised.

Service 21, 21A, 21B

• Service 21B journeys from Lord Street will now depart on the hour. Service 21 and 21A will now depart at half past the hour.

New timetables are now available to view on www.gov.im/2017timetables

A new Journey Planner & Timetables booklet is being published and free copies will be available at the Welcome Centre in the Sea Terminal at Douglas and at bus and rail stations from 8 May 2017.

 

There are a lot of oddities in this, but the most notable is that 8/8A is completely withdrawn[1] - something IOM Newspapers managed to dismiss in their version as being 'affected'.  Obviously no need to bury bad news if you are a Manx civil servant - the media will do it for you even if not asked.

 

[1]  The 'replacement' 4C goes from Douglas to Castletown via the Braaid and goes nowhere near Peel.

 

[Dirty Buggane 208]

On a side note was it the said longtail trotting up and down the prom at the reins of a tram or did my eyes decieve me. On Saturday

Edited April 30, 2017 by Dirty Buggane
unfinished

[TheTeapot 10,673]

3 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

The late afternoon/early evening 15-minute service from Douglas to Port Erin will now commence earlier.

I'm not sure what this means.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2017 by TheTeapot

[hboy 1,996]

42 minutes ago, Dirty Buggane said:

On a side note was it the said longtail trotting up and down the prom at the reins of a tram or did my eyes decieve me. On Saturday

I think he might have been using cost savings and short staffing as an excuse for the odd exercising of horse tram enthusiasm. What's the point of owning your own train set if you can't play with the trains every now and again.

 

[Declan 7,333]

32 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

I'm not sure what this means.

 

 

Instead of ...

 

16:10, 16:30, 16:50, then 17:05, 17:20, 17:35, 17:50

it is ...

 

16:05, 16:20, 16:35, 16:50 then as above

[TheTeapot 10,673]

Oh right, 4 buses south an hour! It is normally 3, 2 the Colby way and 1 via Gansey. Thanks for your explanation, it isn't very clear.

[Declan 7,333]

It's only every 15 mins between 4 and 6. And it always was every 15 minutes from 5 to 6 anyway. So basically it's one extra bus journey.  

Edited April 30, 2017 by Declan