MidlandRed.net

First Worcester are holding another round of "Salt Road" events to promote their Worcester to Birmingham service, starting in Worcester on Monday 28th October 2019. Other events will be held in Droitwich and Bromsgrove.

I am currently awaiting a press pack to arrive from Potteries, so I will post more details with times and exact locations when I have them.

Looks like the 12 Salt Road Volvo's are going to be given individual names!

https://www.firstgroup.com/worcestershi ... are-coming

Correct. I was expecting them to email me the graphics but none have arrived yet... I bet two lots will turn up together!

Times and dates as stated in the link above...

Monday 28 Oct - Worcester City Centre (outside the Guildhall) 10:30 - 14:30
Wednesday 30 Oct - Droitwich Spa (Victoria Square) 10:30 - 14:30
Friday 1 Nov - Bromsgrove (High Street) 10:30 - 14:30

I’ll be at the Monday event with my camera, mainly for the young ladies that are dressing up as Roman Goddesses, but I doubt I’ll be stopping for the whole event!

Just got home from the event, and I'm not sure why I took my camera because I spent all of the time chatting and only took about three photos! Nice to see a number of forum members there, including Tim Brown who had a long talk with the MD about the future of Service 37.

As mentioned above, additional events are taking place on Wednesday and Friday in Droitwich and Bromsgrove. Head over and get your free sticker book!

Did you have him by the throat Tim?

MattW wrote: ↑

16:18 Monday 28th October 2019

Did you have him by the throat Tim?

No, and to be fair Nigel Eggleton is a good listener who gave straight answers to all my questions; I may not like all of what he says but it looks as though the weekday workings are not due for anymore cuts which is good news, but the Saturday service is just not carrying passengers in sufficient numbers between Barbourne and Green Lane to justify running it, even on an hourly basis unfortunately. Just have to hope that Diamond will keep the 303 running as that service is suffering reduced patronage too I believe.

That's good to hear. At least you didn't get any 'political' answers!

TimBrown wrote: ↑

16:30 Monday 28th October 2019

... but the Saturday service is just not carrying passengers in sufficient numbers between Barbourne and Green Lane to justify running it, even on an hourly basis unfortunately...

One thing he mentioned was that First get a fixed flat fee from WCC for carrying Concessionary Pass holders over their network, and that it is not a pay-per-scan agreement. This means that more passengers on the route will only make an impact on the profitability of the route if those passengers pay with their own money.

The phrase "Use it or loose it" should really be "Pay to use it or loose it".

Another set back to those wishing to help save any Worcester route that may be at risk.

AdamH wrote: ↑

17:32 Monday 28th October 2019

TimBrown wrote: ↑

16:30 Monday 28th October 2019

... but the Saturday service is just not carrying passengers in sufficient numbers between Barbourne and Green Lane to justify running it, even on an hourly basis unfortunately...

One thing he mentioned was that First get a fixed flat fee from WCC for carrying Concessionary Pass holders over their network, and that it is not a pay-per-scan agreement. This means that more passengers on the route will only make an impact on the profitability of the route if those passengers pay with their own money.

The phrase "Use it or loose it" should really be "Pay to use it or loose it".

Another set back to those wishing to help save any Worcester route that may be at risk.

I didn't understand the full implications when this was being discussed, I assumed that WCC paid a flat fee of say £1.20 for every Concessionary pass holder carried based upon the fact that we have to swipe our card on the ticket machine. As you know the previous ticket machines issued a ticket for each pass-holder carried.

Are you saying that WCC allocates a lump sum per annum regardless of number of passengers carried, if so this is a weird situation where the more concessionary passengers carried will lead to diminishing returns per journey especially if a full bus means refusing paying passengers. It also brings into question, just how the accountants approach this dilemma and how WCC revenue is distributed over the various routes.

Is it based on the frequency i.e. number of buses per hour, or is it based on a formula based on percentage of pass holders carried? I think that profitable routes such as 35 and 44 would carry a much higher proportion of fare paying passengers than passes therefore those routes would always be at an advantage if a fixed sum was allocated to each bus for concessionary passengers. It follows that routes predominantly carrying pass holders will never match the high frequency routes just because they are not carrying as many fare payers. IF this is so I suspect a different form of accounting is necessary to level the playing field and save the 'twirly' buses! Alternatively bring this to the attention of Councillors and local politicians before it is too late to save those 'at risk' services.