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Post by vjaska on Oct 10, 2017 18:11:45 GMT
Route 150 - Sky Blue - T169 (LJ60AUU), T170 (LJ60AUV), T171 (LJ60AUW), T173 (LJ60AUY), T175 (LJ60ATZ), T176 (LJ60AUA), T177 (LJ60AUC) Guess what, it is going off on route 159 as stagecoach will no longer running this serivce from saturday 14th October. I hope the brands need to come off the side of buses before go on other routes? Is Arriva buses will have a brand on buses of route 150 from Saturday 14th October? Do anyone know? I don't understand. Arriva already have the 150 and are starting a new contract on Saturday. Not only that but the T's are staying as well
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Post by RandomBusesGirl on Oct 10, 2017 21:44:55 GMT
Err, it's 103 and 175 moving over to Arriva lonmark, and neither route is part of the branding trial. As others have said, 150 stays where it is. Only 150D SDO run taken care of by GAL is getting transferred to Arriva from next week (under main contact no less)
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Post by lonmark on Oct 11, 2017 3:02:45 GMT
Err, it's 103 and 175 moving over to Arriva lonmark, and neither route is part of the branding trial. As others have said, 150 stays where it is. Only 150D SDO run taken care of by GAL is getting transferred to Arriva from next week (under main contact no less) I know. I didn't think twice before I type this. I should check it before I say. My own fault. 😂
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Post by Gellico on Oct 30, 2017 15:42:14 GMT
The trial has been running a for a decent time now, overall what are people's opinions of this branding. Personally I do not think it has worked very well as it just doesn't do enough. The other day I had an idea for a more innovative type of branding, before I say I am interested in anyone else's opinions of how branding can be taken forward within London.
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Post by LX09FBJ on Oct 30, 2017 17:29:21 GMT
The branding is a good start, but there's still much work to be done. Also the idea of branding routes where patronage is falling is another idea which could be considered to help passanger numbers.
Some of the advertising in Romford that I've seen (one saying you can catch the 128 or 247 to The Liberty, and the other saying you can catch the 128 to the Gants Hill station, The Echange Mall, Romford station amongst other places)
Not sure if the patronage figures are out yet but that would be the biggest contributor to determining whether the branding trial has been a success or not.
The main issue is that routes need to be sped up - in particular in the roadwork ridden centre, Elelphant and Castle and Lewisham. The effects of these works has led to people using alternative modes of travel. If people are spending time on buses going nowhere then passanger numbers will fall. Bus priority systems are needed, even if there's more bus lanes that would still help.
The fact that Lewisham to London Bridge in the fraction of the time and more frequently than the 47 can is also a factor. Now I'm not suggesting that you can compare the two but the latter has been effected by both the Lewisham and London Bridge works. The limbo of terminating at Liverpool Street and Shoreditch doesn't help either.
Also still no news on the Hayes trial, I'd heard it was going to be six months after Barkingside but there's been nothing announced yet.
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Post by busoccultation on Oct 30, 2017 18:07:23 GMT
My Opinion on the Barkingside Branding:
Good Bits: Colourful - Sometimes I can dash out quickly knowing that is the route I want or even some sort of relief especially if the bus takes while to come. Handy Stop Diagrams on the buses - I can count how many stops until I'm Getting Off although I'd admit its bit difficult doing that on buses unlike trains and Yes, I have done the couple of times already. Hopper Fare sticker - I do like the 2 Journeys within 1 hour for £1.50 sticker to Promote bus travel which is similar to those Day Ticket Promotions outside of London.
Bad Bits: Reduces flexibility on allocation - Prior to branding most buses that are now branded was often used on other routes which are now route-bounded to a particular route for example 275 Enviro's was often used on the 179 and there many examples as well but that’s just a one example. In fact the only route-bounded buses on Barkingside Routes regardless of branding is the Single Door Buses that is used on the 462. Location on the sides – I think it should have Geographical Locations rather than Places of Interests for example the sides and rear of 128 buses should say Claybury Broadway, Barkingside, Gants Hill, Ilford, Green Lane, Becontree Heath, Queens Hospital and Romford as Places of Interest can be confusing for some people especially if they don't know the route/area very well.
Overall Opinion: Not too bad but I would make couple of changes to make it better.
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Post by sid on Oct 30, 2017 20:03:05 GMT
Route branding is certainly a step in the right direction, a plain red bus with a one line destination doesn't tell potential customers very much at all, shades of the NBC era. There is certainly room for improvement though, just look at the eye catching liveries in other areas, but I fear that unless the experiment has lead to a massive increase in patronage it will be deemed a failure and be quietly forgotten about.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2017 20:34:01 GMT
Of all the branded buses I personally think the Yellow (247) is the most striking and eye catching.
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Post by snoggle on Oct 30, 2017 20:43:24 GMT
The trial has been running a for a decent time now, overall what are people's opinions of this branding. Personally I do not think it has worked very well as it just doesn't do enough. The other day I had an idea for a more innovative type of branding, before I say I am interested in anyone else's opinions of how branding can be taken forward within London. It's a waste of time and money. Nothing "special" is being sold or marketed. It's led to the creation of incoherent bus maps which are a massive step backwards. The routes in question have been stable for years and years with the exception of the recent change to the 462. I am happy to be proved wrong but I suspect people's awareness of their local buses in London is higher than in other parts of the country. This is simply because more people have to use them to commute, children use them to / from school and the range of concessions and the Freedom Pass encourage regular usage. There is good information at stops which is to a higher standard than most of the UK. As TfL own the network they provide a centralised set of web based information but more traditional methods are in decline. Others have pointed out what needs fixing so I won't repeat that. *If* the scheme had brought about any quick and clearly identifiable benefits I'd have expected TfL and the Mayor to have been trumpeting those gains by now. However the silence is deafening with not even a hint in any official reports that are released to the public. I will be surprised if TfL are able to objectively demonstrate that this trial has delivered any long lasting gains. We won't see the route level patronage numbers until May or June next year as TfL don't provide any interim updates.
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