End of the road for York's bendy buses (From York Press)

What the 'eck am I going to complain about if they remove the bendy buses?

Garrowby Turnoff i am sure you will find something to wine about though you could suprise us all and get a life??

Sorry about my bad spelling i meant whine,not wine!

Doing a survey is all well and good as long as someone takes any notice of what passengers want.

I've attempted to contact First several times to suggest improvements and not had so much as an acknowledgement, let alone an explanation as to why they think my idea is no good.

But that's assuming somebody actually read the letters...

All I want is a bus service that is reliable. It makes no odds to me whether it's a bendy bus or a double decker.

This is complete nonsense.
The "agreement" expired last June (2011).
First didn't need the Councils permission to continue to run the ftr in the City.
The ftr could be reallocated to another route either within or outside the City - that is up to First.
But the real question is what - if anything - York gets as a replacement?
No thanks if its unreliable 15 year old smoke blowers discarded from another part of the First fleet.

Hooray!

LibDem wrote:
This is complete nonsense.
The "agreement" expired last June (2011).
First didn't need the Councils permission to continue to run the ftr in the City.
The ftr could be reallocated to another route either within or outside the City - that is up to First.
But the real question is what - if anything - York gets as a replacement?
No thanks if its unreliable 15 year old smoke blowers discarded from another part of the First fleet.

Who on earth handed so much power over public transport to a bunch of muppets like First?

hula wrote:
Garrowby Turnoff i am sure you will find something to wine about though you could suprise us all and get a life??

Perhaps hula could tae a class in English for foreigners?
Wine=whine,
i=I
suprise=surprise

The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

Knowing First their idea of a "suitable repacement" will be pairs of 60ft cattle trailers painted green to save the planet towed by army surplus Warrior Fighting Vehicles in convoys of three. At least they will be equipped with radios which will provide a better forum for their drivers to chat over than two stationary buses on Micklegate. The armoured vehicles limited vision will no doubt prove ideal for FTR drivers as they all drove the old vehicles whist only ever moving their heads a maximum of five degrees from the straight ahead despite being surrounded by glasss.

yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

Oh and diesel smoke is bad and smelly for breathing, but its actually less harmful to you and the environment than ''clean diesel fumes''

HOORAY too big and polluting always were waste of money in first place hold up traffic at lights would do better getting smaller ones.

oh if they do eventually see some sense and make the bus lanes single track in both directions depending on morning/evening, they will have to keep the taxi drivers out of them lol, or it would be funny...

James Alexander has become the Don Quixote of York politics. He is tilting at windmills when claiming to have slayed the ftr dragon. As has been pointed out, the Council has no powers to require bus operators to use particular types of vehicle on commercial services.

A statement by First might have had some credibility.

For the record the ftr service from Cornlands Road is generally very good. The conductors/hosts are excellent. We were delighted when, in 2005, the Council decided to provide off street parking spaces for residents in an attempt to provide a “clearway” route for the number 4, helping to reduce journey times and improve reliability.

After 6 years in operation, technology - particularly in terms of fuel efficiency - has moved on and it is perhaps time that the ftr was updated. Environmentally friendly buses have an 18 month lead in time, so the sooner that First take a decision to invest the better. I doubt that they will do this unless some sort of agreement on infrastructure is offered by the Council.

Don Quixote will, I understand, find a newly refurbished windmill in his Holgate constituency. He should issue a challenge to it immediately!

Dobkin wrote:

LibDem wrote:
This is complete nonsense.
The "agreement" expired last June (2011).
First didn't need the Councils permission to continue to run the ftr in the City.
The ftr could be reallocated to another route either within or outside the City - that is up to First.
But the real question is what - if anything - York gets as a replacement?
No thanks if its unreliable 15 year old smoke blowers discarded from another part of the First fleet.

Who on earth handed so much power over public transport to a bunch of muppets like First?

Wasn't it Thatcher's goverment in the 80's bus deregulation!!

Pleased to see them go was never going to work in a City with narrow roads,hopefully first will listen and replace them with something more suitable.

First are spending £160 million on 900 new buses over the next 2 years, so hopefully some of those will be coming to york?

lezyork1966 wrote:
yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

so lets get this right, you think they should replace the ftr with hoppa buses? ftr seats around 90 and is quite often full at peak times, a hoppa seats around 30. that means when the hoppa is full 5 minutes after leaving acomb it will have to leave everybody else at the stops? hoppas? i dont think so do you?

Kellyann88 wrote:
The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

try to use the number 11 for a week then comment the standard of service on the number 4

Kellyann88 wrote:
The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

try to use the number 11 for a week then comment the standard of service on the number 4

Kellyann88 wrote:
The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

try to use the number 11 for a week then comment the standard of service on the number 4

Kellyann88 wrote:
The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

try to use the number 11 for a week then comment the standard of service on the number 4

ndevr wrote:

Kellyann88 wrote:
The FTR is the worst bus in York. It is constantly late; majority of the time it's broken down somewhere! It also shakes our house, feels like a mini earthquake every time it goes by! The FTR works in Leeds; it's a big enough city - York isn't. It's a complete waste of money.

First - Please can we have a reliable bus service on number 4 than i'd be happy to pay the extreme prices rather than use my car everyday!!

try to use the number 11 for a week then comment the standard of service on the number 4

actually i use the 11 quite a bit due to work, and i have to say 90% of the time its fine, sometimes its a bit late but every bus in every town/city in the country is sometimes late, its called traffic congestion, some people have no common sense do you think buses should have wings and fly over traffic congestion?

i heard leeds were looking for some new buses. send them to west yorkshire. i would be glad to see the back of them

No excuse on earth for buses to be late at seven am. Number one bus and number five bus constantly late

lezyork1966 wrote:
yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

'put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space' Not such a bad idea, except for the overhead lane signals that go with it. Theres one of these 'tidal flow' lanes on Queens St in Sheffield that has worked well for over 20 years but gantry and signs are rather ugly. Certainly need to get First to bring in alternative fuel (LPG/Biogas/ hybrid electric) to cut the pollution in the city

Are they literally going to be "axed" ?

At last! I remember when Anne Reid's face was on the front of the press, smiling away at completely stupid initiative. Big polluting buses on tiny streets - Stupid. What about the taxpayers money wasted on altering the bus stops as well?

The time has come for privatisation of council services at strategic level because it's at that level that the council fails. Face workers should be left alone as public workers. Any position over 30k should be private.

ReginaldBiscuit wrote:
At last! I remember when Anne Reid's face was on the front of the press, smiling away at completely stupid initiative. Big polluting buses on tiny streets - Stupid. What about the taxpayers money wasted on altering the bus stops as well? The time has come for privatisation of council services at strategic level because it's at that level that the council fails. Face workers should be left alone as public workers. Any position over 30k should be private.

Because the private sector does everything so well and always puts the customer's interests first? Like RBS, for example - or like First Group. First's adjusted profit in the 6 months up to September was up 9%. Nice for their shareholders; not so nice for their customers who, here in York, are being stung with fare rises of up to 9% in order to make the shareholders even richer. Not very good news for the taxpayer, either, as we're all required to subsidise First Group's railway business, which contributes the largest proportion of the "profits" that line shareholders' pockets. The private sector shouldn't be allowed anywhere near essential public services.

TERRIER3 wrote:

lezyork1966 wrote:
yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

so lets get this right, you think they should replace the ftr with hoppa buses? ftr seats around 90 and is quite often full at peak times, a hoppa seats around 30. that means when the hoppa is full 5 minutes after leaving acomb it will have to leave everybody else at the stops? hoppas? i dont think so do you?

FTR seats 38 and 76 standing
A FTR carries no more seated passangers that a single decker

If you read FTR web site
How many people can it carry?
ftr has 53 seating positions with space for 60 standing. It has priority space for 1 standard wheelchair and 3 buggies or up to 4 buggies if the wheelchair space is not occupied
But the wrightbus makers of the FTR say
http://www.wrightbus
.com/site/default.as
p?CATID=32

BRT | StreetCar
The Wright Group has drawn upon all its expertise and experience as one of Europe's most forward thinking PSV providers.

StreetCar better known as FTR
Chassis
Volvo B9LA
Body Length(s) 18.7m
Maximum Capacity 113
Maximum Seated 37
Maximum Standees 76
Noticed that first york as removed the fleet list from it's web site since they have moved there depo to Leeds

TERRIER3 wrote:

lezyork1966 wrote:
yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

so lets get this right, you think they should replace the ftr with hoppa buses? ftr seats around 90 and is quite often full at peak times, a hoppa seats around 30. that means when the hoppa is full 5 minutes after leaving acomb it will have to leave everybody else at the stops? hoppas? i dont think so do you?

FTR seats 38 and 76 standing
A FTR carries no more seated passangers that a single decker

If you read FTR web site
How many people can it carry?
ftr has 53 seating positions with space for 60 standing. It has priority space for 1 standard wheelchair and 3 buggies or up to 4 buggies if the wheelchair space is not occupied
But the wrightbus makers of the FTR say
http://www.wrightbus
.com/site/default.as
p?CATID=32

BRT | StreetCar
The Wright Group has drawn upon all its expertise and experience as one of Europe's most forward thinking PSV providers.

StreetCar better known as FTR
Chassis
Volvo B9LA
Body Length(s) 18.7m
Maximum Capacity 113
Maximum Seated 37
Maximum Standees 76
Noticed that first york as removed the fleet list from it's web site since they have moved there depo to Leeds

I think all the people bad mouthing the FTR's have a selective memory. Yes they are large but they were designed to carry a lot of passengers & cope with the busy periods in York (mornings, afternoons & term time at the university) Getting rid of them would just mean reverting back to the problems we had before, smaller b7 buses would be on route & wouldn't be able to cope in these busy periods, people would be forced to stand or left at bus stops in the cold. And if double deckers were on route then people would have to drag there shopping upstairs. I remember all of this from before the FTR's were introduced. & it's not the size of the vehicle that's a problem at all!! They are only slightly bigger than a park & ride bendy & I'm sure if First got rid of them there would be hell on with passengers & chaos would be caused.

& also if the FTR's really were "too large" for our roads then there would have been constant accidents on the 5 or so years that they had been in York..........& that hasn't happeneds, proving they are perfectly safe!!

& also if the FTR's really were "too large" for our roads then there would have been constant accidents on the 5 or so years that they had been in York..........& that hasn't happeneds, proving they are perfectly safe!!

& also if the FTR's really were "too large" for our roads then there would have been constant accidents on the 5 or so years that they had been in York..........& that hasn't happeneds, proving they are perfectly safe!!

Regardless of whether it's an ftr or a double-decker, the Number 4 bus is useless for getting from central Acomb into town. It takes about 40 minutes whereas the Number 1 bus takes 15 minutes. Only once the Number 4 route reaches Tadcaster Road does it become reasonably direct. So although it's supposed to be Acomb-University, it's far quicker to take the 1 to the station and switch there to the 4 if going from one end of the Number 4 route to the other!

Good old labour - thats about 40 hosts/conductors out of a job, well done

R'Marcus wrote:

hula wrote:
Garrowby Turnoff i am sure you will find something to wine about though you could suprise us all and get a life??

Perhaps hula could tae a class in English for foreigners?
Wine=whine,
i=I
suprise=surprise

"tae"??? pot kettle, kettle pot.

James Street Bare Knuckle Gypsy Fighter wrote:
No excuse on earth for buses to be late at seven am. Number one bus and number five bus constantly late

and you knows this how ??? what if the bus was late leaving the depot !!! driver was ill and did not turn up for work, bus did not start / blocked in had a defect !! this will make it late.
passengers with large notes at stops before you, will delay the bus

James Street Bare Knuckle Gypsy Fighter wrote:
No excuse on earth for buses to be late at seven am. Number one bus and number five bus constantly late

and you knows this how ??? what if the bus was late leaving the depot !!! driver was ill and did not turn up for work, bus did not start / blocked in had a defect !! this will make it late.
passengers with large notes at stops before you, will delay the bus

York1900 wrote:

TERRIER3 wrote:

lezyork1966 wrote:
yorks little streets need little busses, remember the hoppa busses?

get some of those on ELECTRIC and its a winner, dont say it cant be done other countries are trying it

use standard size busses at peak times, and for fecks sake take a leaf out of other countries books on bus lanes... put ONE bus lane down the middle of the roads, and use it morning to afternoon going into town, then after use it the other way going out... saves road space. oh you may have to educate your drivers....

so lets get this right, you think they should replace the ftr with hoppa buses? ftr seats around 90 and is quite often full at peak times, a hoppa seats around 30. that means when the hoppa is full 5 minutes after leaving acomb it will have to leave everybody else at the stops? hoppas? i dont think so do you?

FTR seats 38 and 76 standing
A FTR carries no more seated passangers that a single decker

If you read FTR web site
How many people can it carry?
ftr has 53 seating positions with space for 60 standing. It has priority space for 1 standard wheelchair and 3 buggies or up to 4 buggies if the wheelchair space is not occupied
But the wrightbus makers of the FTR say
http://www.wrightbus

.com/site/default.as

p?CATID=32

BRT | StreetCar
The Wright Group has drawn upon all its expertise and experience as one of Europe's most forward thinking PSV providers.

StreetCar better known as FTR
Chassis
Volvo B9LA
Body Length(s) 18.7m
Maximum Capacity 113
Maximum Seated 37
Maximum Standees 76
Noticed that first york as removed the fleet list from it's web site since they have moved there depo to Leeds

its not a B9LA its a B7LA ( in York at least) the 9 & 7 number denotes engine size ie 7 ltr turbo