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Friday, 16 October 2020

Leeds Live

• Leeds bus services could disappear unless Government coughs up cashThe journeys need to be subsidised when the coronavirus pandemic is over

Other Regional Press

• Improved bus services provided at Milton ParkMilton Park, one of the leading science and technology communities in Oxfordshire, has linked up with Thames Travel to provide its new shuttle bus service between Didcot Parkway and the business park.

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach invests in 34 new coaches to upgrade Oxford TubeStagecoach says that a £13m investment will deliver major improvements for one of Europe’s most frequent express coach services, with the first new coaches going into service before Christmas on the Oxford Tube
• Optare vows to maintain production despite industrial actionOptare has announced it has put in place contingency plans to maintain production and to deliver orders despite the decision of the Unite union to take industrial action
• Ember: Edinburgh’s electric expressOn 1 October, new entrant to the inter-city market Ember launched its inaugural service between Dundee and Edinburgh. Jonathan Welch spoke to founders Pierce Glennie and Keith Bradbury about the new fully-electric service
• Working together to offer operators choiceFleet Resourcing and the Bus and Coach Centre formed an alliance this year that saw operations expand and operators benefit from a larger selection of vehicles. Richard Sharman visited the Oxford site to find out more
• World’s first hydrogen-powered double-decker arrives in AberdeenThe world’s first hydrogen-powered double-decker set to enter service has been revealed in Aberdeen, where it will undergo a period of final testing and driver training, with the buses expected to be in service next month

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Bus patronage recovery rate variation exposed by surveyThe extent of variation in the rate of bus patronage recovery outside London has been exposed by data collated by the Ten Per Cent Club, a group of industry professionals
• Stagecoach calls for air quality focus on 40th anniversaryA coach returned to original Stagecoach ‘stripes’ colours is among celebrations of the group’s 40th anniversary as it urges the government to address air quality issues and to work with the industry to foster a positive future for public transport
• Enhanced Job Support Scheme ‘must capture coach operators’The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) says it will be lobbying the government to recognise coach operators that are forced to close because of enhanced restrictions over the winter as being eligible for the expanded Job Support Scheme (JSS)
• First Bus speeds up boarding with launch of Express Mode on Apple PayFirst Bus has become the first UK bus operator outside of London to launch Express mode on Apple Pay across its entire network
• Brighton and Hove Buses staff shine a leading light for women in transportBrighton and Hove Buses Operations Manager, Kirstie Bull, and Head of Marketing and Communications, Vicky Doyle, have been recognised for their contribution to the transport and logistics industry
• Leeds Clean Air Zone set for formal abandonmentA Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Leeds is no longer required, a joint review by Leeds City Council (LCC) and central government has concluded
• Extra £52.6m allocated for bus services in ScotlandThe Scottish Government has approved a further £52.6m to support and maintain bus services in Scotland during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic
• Details of solar panels for five Oxford Tube Panoramas releasedFurther information has been released about the solar panels that are to be fitted to five of the 34 Plaxton Panorama-bodied Volvo B11RLE double-decker coaches that are on order for Stagecoach’s Oxford Tube service
• Pandemic’s impact on coach further exposed by mileage dataFigures collated by a coach operator comparing the mileage covered by its vehicles in 2020 to like-for-like data for 2019 for its core business have further illustrated the impact of coronavirus COVID-19 on the coach tourism sector.
• Home-to-school transport return in England ‘has gone well’The return of home-to-school transport in England has gone more smoothly than might have been expected. That is the experience of two operators that are heavily involved in the sector
• Bristol ‘contingency’ Traffic Clean Air Zone consultation opensBristol City Council (BCC) has opened a consultation into revised charging options that may be needed to improve air quality in the city through what it now calls a Traffic Clean Air Zone (TCAZ)