Aberdeen City council: looks to run its own buses

[Sir Felix Pole]

Interestingly, the controlling Labour group on Aberdeen City Council want to set up a municpal bus company after First pulled out of several routes in the city. The council already wholly owns a number of vehicles leased to First. First, of course, came from Grampian Regional Transport which came from Aberdeen Corporation Transport. The wheel goes full circle! The SNP are opposed - the fact that Sir Brian Souter of Stagecoach is a major donor to the party, of course, has no bearing on their stance. Presumably the Bus Service Bill will scupper this or is it a devolved matter in Scotland?

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1184052/council-launch-buses-aberdeen-amid-anger-pulled-city-services/

Corporation buses could return to the streets of Aberdeen to take on “monopoly” private-sector operators.

Grampian buses were a common sight for generations of Aberdonians, with their green and yellow livery a familiar welcome to the Granite City.

Now the city’s leading Labour group is to ask town house officers to investigate once more setting up a council-run company.

It’s understood that some of the authority’s hydrogen buses, which are currently leased to the private firms, could be used for the ambitious scheme.

Margaret Thatcher’s Transport Act of 1985 first opened the door to privatised and de-regulated services into British cities with Aberdeen’s First Bus buying out the Grampian Buses in 1989.

The move comes amid growing anger over the King Street-based transport giant withdrawing the X40 and 11 services from Kingswells leaving the suburb disconnected.

Aberdeen Donside MSP Mark McDonald and Kingswells councillors Steve Delaney and David Cameron voiced strong objections to the First withdrawal – saying the council should consider stepping in.

Mr Grant said: “Over the last five years we have seen bus operators within Aberdeen renege on running a bus service to certain communities such as Kingswells, the Bridge of Don and Airyhall to name but a few, all to the detriment of passengers who often rely upon a decent bus service to get to and from work.

“Many people have commented on how First Bus has a monopoly in this city and I am sure that if Aberdeen City Council is in a position to own and operate a bus company again one of the first things we would look at is the cost of bus fares.

“This successful operation in Edinburgh should give the citizens of Aberdeen the comfort that councils can run good public services and if the motion is approved I look forward to seeing the feasibility study from the chief executive in order to make this a reality.”

A town house source said: “For too long First have been acting like a bully, if there is a price war between (the council and First) then that can only be good for the citizens.”

But a spokesman for First Aberdeen said: “First is a company founded in Aberdeen, our bus operation is one of the city’s largest employers, we are a major contributor to the local economy and move more than 50,000 passengers a day.

“As a commercial operator, services have to be viable and where this is not the case local authorities can already use their powers to procure socially necessary services. At a time of increasing pressure on the public purse, this remains a cost effective option.”

 

[overthewater]

As some may or may not know First plans to cut back some of its routes, while also hoping to improve on one key section. Stagecoach said there would lookat the area being withdrawn but have instead decided not to.

If you want to look at the timetables:

First:
https://www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen/more/proposed-service-changes

Stagecoach:
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promo...luebird-proposed-timetables-from-1st-may-2017

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...ses-aberdeen-amid-anger-pulled-city-services/

 

[the101]

Pie-in-the-sky babbling from elected officials who don't have a clue what they're talking about. Ignoring the customary outrage of a councillor pandering to voters, it would be much more cost-effective for Aberdeen to spend the money this will cost on other things, and issue a tender(s) for services to the affected areas.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interestingly, MK Council runs its own Community Transport services, and it does so because it believes it can do it cheaper than it can be done tendered. It was previously tendered and worked well, but there were funding cuts, and they apparently worked out that it was either in house or not at all.

 

[Volvodart]

There is an election coming up in May.

It is Stagecoach that are cutting back in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. First Aberdeen have made NO cuts as such, just redeploying buses from a poorly used part of one route next month to another route.

 

[Mitch in Notts]

Nottinghamshire County Council has an increasing number of tenders run by its own fleet vehicles rather than other operators so it's nothing new - and makes use of existing resources and a lesser cost? than perhaps big operators could provide small vehicles at.

 

[overthewater]

There is an election coming up in May.

It is Stagecoach that are cutting back in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. First Aberdeen have made NO cuts as such, just redeploying buses from a poorly used part of one route next month to another route.

Is the cuts to the 27 and x40 going ahead?

 

[richw]

Interestingly, MK Council runs its own Community Transport services, and it does so because it believes it can do it cheaper than it can be done tendered. It was previously tendered and worked well, but there were funding cuts, and they apparently worked out that it was either in house or not at all.

Several parish councils in Cornwall and Devon have started running their own services as they researched it to be better value for money for the tax payer after county council cut the subsidies, the parishes were investigating tendering them out themselves.

This being Cornwall and smallish towns/villages they don't need more than a 16-20 seat minibus, so can be purchased for a small sum and a minibus has much lower running costs than a Optare Solo or Dennis Dart which the commercial operators were bidding to use.

 

[Volvodart]

Is the cuts to the 27 and x40 going ahead?

There is NO cut to the 27. It is becoming the 117 with the same frequency on a new route to the airport and cutting out the dead return journeys. First Aberdeen have been unable to give a date when the changes, apart from the 11/X40 curtailment from 2 April, will take place as the council will not give a date when Broad Street will close resulting in a lot of route changes. It was supposed to close in January.

 

[GusB]

I would prefer public services to be in public hands, but I think this proposal is nuts. I do wish the P&J would try to get their facts right as well.

Margaret Thatcher’s Transport Act of 1985 first opened the door to privatised and de-regulated services into British cities with Aberdeen’s First Bus buying out the Grampian Buses in 1989.

GRT was subject to a management/employee buyout and it was the resulting holding company merging with another that led to the formation of First. The livery wasn't green and yellow either!

It has been almost fifteen years since I left Aberdeen, so I'm a bit out of the loop these days. Back then, I did feel rather aggrieved that there were two large operators in the city, but very little direct competition. The price of a FirstDay ticket in Edinburgh was certainly much lower than the equivalent ticket in Aberdeen at the time, and covered a much larger area.

However, I'm not sure if there's a big enough market to sustain two operators, let alone a third. After privatisation, Stagecoach cut their CityBus network right back in order to eliminate "wasteful competition", and GRT withdrew from the out of town routes.

 

[overthewater]

I have to wonder how the council could run the bus service cheaper if there going to keep on using those big wasteful buses.

I get the tad feeling I wasn't completely fair about saying who cutting what. As its beens said many times the reduction in passenger numbers on many service is as a direct result in the decline in the oil and gas industry.

YES stagecoach are planning to make cuts, but when I first read the page it didn't look like it was bad cuts overall, IE making the X6- X7s, revising X17. It did say the 37 would say at every 20mins so someone make a typo...

Its X18 which is getting withdraw that been the cured ball, That a 30min service , which actually goes past the same area First are planning to pull out aswell, The X18 used to be every 20mins last year.

 

[Chew Chew]

It has been almost fifteen years since I left Aberdeen, so I'm a bit out of the loop these days. Back then, I did feel rather aggrieved that there were two large operators in the city, but very little direct competition.

It is pretty much still the same.

IIRC, the only buses in direct competition are the Stagecoach 59 and the First Bus 3.

You get the feeling that they both enjoyed having a bit of a carve up so they could both milk their set of passengers and not have to worry about the other side.

As for Willie Young himself, he is seen as a bit of a fool. Just a couple years ago he said that anyone who wanted to start a publicly run bus service in Aberdeen was an idiot.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would prefer public services to be in public hands, but I think this proposal is nuts.

I would agree that deliberately competing with existing commercial services is silly.

OTOH, if it's cheaper to operate tendered services (where they remain) in-house, why not? Councils should in my view choose the cheapest/most efficient method of providing any public service they are providing out of simple respect to the local taxpayer. That may mean tendering it out or may mean in-house.

 

[overthewater]

I would agree that deliberately competing with existing commercial services is silly.

OTOH, if it's cheaper to operate tendered services (where they remain) in-house, why not? Councils should in my view choose the cheapest/most efficient method of providing any public service they are providing out of simple respect to the local taxpayer. That may mean tendering it out or may mean in-house.

Tell that to SPT, it might save alot more money,