Yes, they were in Swindon until about 9 months ago, then moved to Bluestar. From the same bustimes.org source as quoted in post #330.
Again according to the same source as post #330 (bustimes.org) they were also on the 14.
I think the last few morebus vehicles are about to arrive. I'd expect the southern Vectis vehicles after them.
Would it be possible for the council to buy out the ferry company and undertake all improvements themselves?
I don't think Dorset council have any funds to do so. They're expecting (if I've read their budget plans right) to have a deficit over the next four years, so there wouldn't be any room to purchase the ferry company.
The ferry straddles the boundary between Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council.
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council have no money, they are desperately trying to save it. Even the Air Festival's future is up in the air, despite the millions it generates, and Christmas lights this year have been axed.
True, but the ferry road itself is fully on the Dorset Council side. Even if they could, I doubt BCP would care enough to spend that much money on something outside their area so that a single, non-council funded bus route could skip a few queues. I think the 50, outside of tourist season, largely operates so people from Purbeck can get to Bournemouth rather than the other way around, too.
No, even in winter, the flow is around 95% towards Swanage.
Also I would expect it might be just as quick (if not even quicker) to take the 40 bus from Swanage to Wareham and change onto the train for Bournemouth.
The Council could close the road before it becomes a private road, depriving the ferry company of any traffic. It wouldn't take long for the ferry company to back down and allow faster access for buses
It seems that it's a loophole where the bus company can take advantage of, right? By registering their loop services with separate numbers on different part of loop, morebus can circumvent the £2 cap while remaining in the scheme, getting extra money from both the passenger and from the government (because two "journeys" instead of one are submitted to government for reimbursement).
Given the 12 and 22 started when Yellow Buses collapsed (albeit as 4 and 2 respectively), then the services were registered before the £2 fare cap began.
But it wasn't en route. It terminated at Castlepoint, then departed on a different route.
I've just re-read the article - a trip to the hospital from The Broadway would be impossible on the 12/22 as neither serve that stop. The 12 runs via Muscliff estate, so the closest stop would be halfway down Broadway Lane. From The Broadway, the m1 (or failing that, the 14 or 15) would provide a direct bus (so £2 under the cap, not sure on the pre-cap fare but probably something like £2.50).
The Bournemouth Echo is not known for actually checking stories and letters. In the comments under the article the last, current, entry points out the same point that you have raised. A couple of weeks ago I did hear a conversation between a customer and a driver of the 12/22 - the driver said that the change of number made no difference nd not to worry about it.
Off topic but let's face it it seems like none of the press are very good at fact checking
An E400 with an Optare body? I'd suggest your source is incorrect. Do you have the direct link to the page that this information came from?
They are mounted on a Trident chassis
Returning home from loan at Wigan / Bolton.
An E400 chassis yes - albeit was still referred to as a Trident chassis for a time. Even Optare referred to it as a E400:
