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Post by snoggle on Sept 18, 2017 13:18:15 GMT
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Post by vjaska on Sept 18, 2017 13:26:28 GMT
Surely a no brainer - easily one of the better ideas proposed in a long while. |
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Post by danorak on Sept 18, 2017 14:18:59 GMT
As expected it involves using Fastrack and serving Death Valley Hospital. Blimey, I know parts of Dartford can be bleak... You wouldn't fancy your chances of surviving a stay in that hospital! Or do you mean Darent Valley?   EDIT: Sarky smart-alec mispells it as 'Darenth' in original reply. The curse of the pedant. |
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Post by sid on Sept 18, 2017 14:25:29 GMT
As expected it involves using Fastrack and serving Death Valley Hospital. Blimey, I know parts of Dartford can be bleak... You wouldn't fancy your chances of surviving a stay in that hospital! Or do you mean Darent Valley? EDIT: Sarky smart-alec mispells it as 'Darenth' in original reply. The curse of the pedant. Or there is 'Maydie Hospital' in Croydon? 
Anyway surely this is the most pointless consultation ever? Is anybody really going to be opposed to it?
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Post by stuckonthe486 on Sept 18, 2017 14:25:42 GMT
Just in time for the 96 to avoid the Christmas jams, too.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 18, 2017 14:32:47 GMT
Surely a no brainer - easily one of the better ideas proposed in a long while. You say that, I think similar. However I hope this doesn't jinx anything meaning people oppose and it doesn't go ahead like the 25s Bow flyover consultation  |
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Post by snoggle on Sept 18, 2017 14:45:09 GMT
As expected it involves using Fastrack and serving Death Valley Hospital. Blimey, I know parts of Dartford can be bleak... You wouldn't fancy your chances of surviving a stay in that hospital! Or do you mean Darent Valley? EDIT: Sarky smart-alec mispells it as 'Darenth' in original reply. The curse of the pedant. I'm sorry for any confusion. A fellow forum member once called Darent Valley Hospital "Death Valley Hospital" and it has always stuck with me I'm afraid. I rather like these silly quirky names so they appear in posts from time to time. |
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Post by snoggle on Sept 18, 2017 14:55:03 GMT
Anyway surely this is the most pointless consultation ever? Is anybody really going to be opposed to it? Err how about Arriva Kent Thameside, Kent County Council, Stagecoach London - if they don't get a slice of money or appropriate guarantees from TfL? I'll tell you what I think could happen and that's that people who live close to the Busway object to the 96 not having any stops between Dartford and the Hospital. That's entirely plausible as I am sure people would rather pay £1.50 than whatever Arriva charge (checks - £2.40 and £1.30 for a short hop). And, yes, I do appreciate the current 96 doesn't stop east of Dartford at the moment other than at Bluewater but if you give people the chance to voice their opinions you may find you've triggered something you don't expect.  I expect TfL will not be permitted to stop on Fastrack at all in order to preserve Arriva KT's monopoly so any campaign will fall on deaf ears but it will be interesting to see what does get said. |
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Post by sid on Sept 18, 2017 15:12:05 GMT
Anyway surely this is the most pointless consultation ever? Is anybody really going to be opposed to it? Err how about Arriva Kent Thameside, Kent County Council, Stagecoach London - if they don't get a slice of money or appropriate guarantees from TfL? I'll tell you what I think could happen and that's that people who live close to the Busway object to the 96 not having any stops between Dartford and the Hospital. That's entirely plausible as I am sure people would rather pay £1.50 than whatever Arriva charge (checks - £2.40 and £1.30 for a short hop). And, yes, I do appreciate the current 96 doesn't stop east of Dartford at the moment other than at Bluewater but if you give people the chance to voice their opinions you may find you've triggered something you don't expect. I expect TfL will not be permitted to stop on Fastrack at all in order to preserve Arriva KT's monopoly so any campaign will fall on deaf ears but it will be interesting to see what does get said. I'm assuming the section in and out of Bluewater will be the only part of Fastrack infrastructure the 96 uses? |
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Post by snoggle on Sept 18, 2017 15:23:37 GMT
Err how about Arriva Kent Thameside, Kent County Council, Stagecoach London - if they don't get a slice of money or appropriate guarantees from TfL? I'll tell you what I think could happen and that's that people who live close to the Busway object to the 96 not having any stops between Dartford and the Hospital. That's entirely plausible as I am sure people would rather pay £1.50 than whatever Arriva charge (checks - £2.40 and £1.30 for a short hop). And, yes, I do appreciate the current 96 doesn't stop east of Dartford at the moment other than at Bluewater but if you give people the chance to voice their opinions you may find you've triggered something you don't expect. I expect TfL will not be permitted to stop on Fastrack at all in order to preserve Arriva KT's monopoly so any campaign will fall on deaf ears but it will be interesting to see what does get said. I'm assuming the section in and out of Bluewater will be the only part of Fastrack infrastructure the 96 uses? Not according to the map in the consultation info. Shows two sections where the 96 is diverted. |
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Post by sid on Sept 18, 2017 20:37:17 GMT
I'm assuming the section in and out of Bluewater will be the only part of Fastrack infrastructure the 96 uses? Not according to the map in the consultation info. Shows two sections where the 96 is diverted. I hadn't looked at that, I assumed it would do the same as the 428. Maybe some revised stopping arrangements at DVH are planned? The present stops are rather cramped and there is room for something better. |
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Post by twobellstogo on Sept 19, 2017 7:02:34 GMT
Anyway surely this is the most pointless consultation ever? Is anybody really going to be opposed to it? Err how about Arriva Kent Thameside, Kent County Council, Stagecoach London - if they don't get a slice of money or appropriate guarantees from TfL? I'll tell you what I think could happen and that's that people who live close to the Busway object to the 96 not having any stops between Dartford and the Hospital. That's entirely plausible as I am sure people would rather pay £1.50 than whatever Arriva charge (checks - £2.40 and £1.30 for a short hop). And, yes, I do appreciate the current 96 doesn't stop east of Dartford at the moment other than at Bluewater but if you give people the chance to voice their opinions you may find you've triggered something you don't expect. I expect TfL will not be permitted to stop on Fastrack at all in order to preserve Arriva KT's monopoly so any campaign will fall on deaf ears but it will be interesting to see what does get said. Yeah - I agree with that. I think the 96 proposal is excellent, but I think there is a chance, small maybe, but still a chance, that none of it will happen. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2017 7:36:17 GMT
Not according to the map in the consultation info. Shows two sections where the 96 is diverted. I hadn't looked at that, I assumed it would do the same as the 428. Maybe some revised stopping arrangements at DVH are planned? The present stops are rather cramped and there is room for something better. If you look closely, there are unused Fastrack bus "platforms" on the busway outside the hospital. For some reason, they were never used. It is possible these will be used as bus stops for the 96 to avoid using the cramped bus stops directly outside the hospital. The other thing I notice, is the point most 96's don't use the route as per the map suggests, most drivers use London Road to / from Dartford. |
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Post by snoggle on Sept 19, 2017 12:08:43 GMT
If you look closely, there are unused Fastrack bus "platforms" on the busway outside the hospital. For some reason, they were never used. It is possible these will be used as bus stops for the 96 to avoid using the cramped bus stops directly outside the hospital. The other thing I notice, is the point most 96's don't use the route as per the map suggests, most drivers use London Road to / from Dartford. I assume they use that alternative route without any penalty from TfL given there are no intermediate stops. In the future that flexibility disappears given the need to serve the hospital. While access to Fastrack will help with reliability I do wonder if a more "fixed" route may bring other reliability concerns for Stagecoach. I've not used Fastrack so don't know if there are height restrictions on the "B" route but it's noteworthy that the busway isn't being used west of Gore Road. It is not possible for double deckers to run on this section? I can see the people on Park Road Dartford wondering why they can't get on the nice "every 8 minutes" 96 bus when Arriva only bother to provide the "hourly if you are lucky" 423 bus into Dartford and to New Ash Green. Some, I guess, can walk round to The Brent where they have more choice but I do wonder what goes through Arriva's head with the planning of some of its bus routes. Perhaps everyone in Dartford just uses cars? Ages since I've been there so don't know what it's like these days. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2017 12:19:24 GMT
If you look closely, there are unused Fastrack bus "platforms" on the busway outside the hospital. For some reason, they were never used. It is possible these will be used as bus stops for the 96 to avoid using the cramped bus stops directly outside the hospital. The other thing I notice, is the point most 96's don't use the route as per the map suggests, most drivers use London Road to / from Dartford. I assume they use that alternative route without any penalty from TfL given there are no intermediate stops. In the future that flexibility disappears given the need to serve the hospital. While access to Fastrack will help with reliability I do wonder if a more "fixed" route may bring other reliability concerns for Stagecoach. I've not used Fastrack so don't know if there are height restrictions on the "B" route but it's noteworthy that the busway isn't being used west of Gore Road. It is not possible for double deckers to run on this section? I can see the people on Park Road Dartford wondering why they can't get on the nice "every 8 minutes" 96 bus when Arriva only bother to provide the "hourly if you are lucky" 423 bus into Dartford and to New Ash Green. Some, I guess, can walk round to The Brent where they have more choice but I do wonder what goes through Arriva's head with the planning of some of its bus routes. Perhaps everyone in Dartford just uses cars? Ages since I've been there so don't know what it's like these days. Fastrack B has no height restrictions between Temple Hill and Greenhithe Station. I think the section from Dartford to Princes Rd may be OK towards Bluewater, but other way, the 96's would have a tricky left turn onto Market Street, whereas the B's go straight on to Home Gardens. London Road residents are used to the non stop 96 , they have the x20min 480 , x30min 492 and an hourly 455 Mon-Sat daytimes. Park Road, only has a couple of poorly positioned bus stops, and I've never seen anyone waiting there. The 423 relies on the Fleet Estate , Darenth Hill and New Ash Green residents for its custom. It is quite rare to see a 96 using the Park Road route. Dartforrd as a town has a very strong mini cab trade. Phones in all the shopping centres, and from what I've seen, most have figured out a family of three with shopping from Temple Hill to Dartford is cheaper by mini cab , if not, certainly very convenient |
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I expect TfL will not be permitted to stop on Fastrack at all in order to preserve Arriva KT's monopoly so any campaign will fall on deaf ears but it will be interesting to see what does get said.