Service 36

Bus and Coach operations, new or changed services and timetables for First Midland Red Buses Limited or its predecessor, Midland Red West Limited.
Post Reply
Matt560Breese
Posts: 55
Joined: 18:42 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Digis, Worcester
Contact:

Service 36

Post by Matt560Breese » 21:46 Thursday 8th September 2016

I do not understand what first have done to the 36 they get a better Sunday service than a weekday service
the last bus on a Monday to Friday is a 1430

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: Service 36

Post by TimBrown » 06:09 Friday 9th September 2016

Matt560Breese wrote:
21:46 Thursday 8th September 2016
I do not understand what first have done to the 36 they get a better Sunday service than a weekday service
the last bus on a Monday to Friday is a 1430
Weird! Presumably only possible to fit this bit in between school services Monday to Friday; shortage of buses and drivers I guess.

This was my comment of 14 August 2016;

"Whilst driving back from town the other evening along Bilford Road I happened to to glance right towards Perdiswell and noticed that the huge new swimming pool building is nearing completion. It looks well in hand to meet the target opening at beginning of 2017. A brand new bus shelter has also appeared recently near the site entrance in anticipation of increased bus usage. In the name of good marketing is this September really the best time to reduce the 36 route frequency from every 30 minutes to hourly? Hopefully, First Worcester will change this in January, or February, to coincide with the grand opening and offer incentives to swimmers of all ages to use that service - perhaps not judged on past experience!"

Followed on 15 August 2016 by;

"That is much worse than I had envisaged, incredible that there will only be 5 buses in each direction along Bilford Road with nothing in the peak period. I remember when the 36 and 38 services operated frequently throughout the working day as one of the main Warndon trunk routes via Tolladine Road and Bilford Road. It seems as though the heavy promotion of route 35 in the past to keep Diamond (remember them?) off it has sucked the life out of the alternative routes and killed Tunnel Hill services completely. Can't see the 36 lasting beyond the next round of profit related service adjustments.

Swimmers will have to walk long distances for their dip or (more likely) clog up the roads with their cars to and from Perdiswell. Seems a waste of money erecting a new bus shelter too, not to mention poor communication between private bus operator and local authorities!"

It would appear to be a vicious circle with First cutting back on most of the evening services because they are not used, then the afternoon services aren't used because there is no bus to get home on and so it goes on. It all seems to be governed by the bottom line, with very little done to generate patronage other than on the trunk routes like 35, 44 and 144. A comment was made recently on this website that the monopoly of First is the only way that services in this City can work, but when Diamond put their challenge in some time ago, it certainly sharpened First's efforts considerably. I don't like the complacency latent in the current operations; we could end up with all services just operating from 07-30 to 17-30 followed quite soon by closure of Padmore Street. Perhaps something can be done before then to attract car owners back on to the buses; most businesses in Worcester offer late opening and Sunday opening, but this is not, it seems, matched by our local bus operator.

First even capitulated on the 382 by removing all the Saturday buses; I haven't heard of any offers or marketing to other passengers extolling the places to visit on this route. Can see it dwindling even further as residents en route give up and buy even more motorised personal transport. It is all a downward spiral!

Post Reply

Return to “Services, Routes and Timetables”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests