TfGM response to my most recent letter regarding reductions and changes in 181, 182 and 59 bus services

14974633459_2c3f4820ffDetails: 181, 182 and 59 Bus TfGM response to my recent letter

As these are all commercial services delivered by First Bus there is little TfGM can do – see above letter.

I will continue to speak out to maintain these and other services so those without cars or those who cannot walk to the tram stop can make the journeys they need when they need.

408 Bus service – response to me raising no service between 2.15pm – 16.02pm

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Good Morning Councillor Sykes,

I have had discussions with Rosso regarding the afternoon peak gap on service 408 (1415 to 1602 from Oldham towards Shaw).

At the moment they don’t have a bus available to provide an additional journey but I am aware of plans to make some revisions to the local school bus network which could potentially free up a vehicle at approximately 1535 in Oldham.

Rosso have provided a price to provide an additional journey but given that this would require an extra bus it would be difficult to justify.

I’d like to see where we get to with the potential school bus changes – if this is a possibility, and as we’d be using existing resources the price would be likely to be much lower.

Regards – Nick O’Neill, Service Planning Officer, Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BG.  Direct Line 0161 244 1580.  Office Fax 0161 244 1310

Poowatch progress report requested

Poowatch Logo

Recent press cutting from LGA First : First Magazine – LGA

Mrs Helen Lockwood, Executive Director Economy, Skills & Neighbourhoods, Mrs Carol Brown, Assistant Executive Director – Environment

Dear Mrs Lockwood & Mrs Brown,

I am sure you will recall that I wrote to you in December 2015 about Poowatch, a free web app for smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Poo Watch was launched in November 2015 in Worcester to help clean up the city’s streets and to shame irresponsible dog-owners to clear up after their pets. There has recently been further positive publicity in the local government press – attached – and I still believe this technology could be of great use in helping Oldham Council tackle this blight in our borough, particularly in hot spots such as Dunwood Park in my own ward.

To reiterate the contents of my first letter, through the Poowatch app, Worcester residents can record any dog litter they spot in the city. The information they provide will help identify dog litter hotspots so action can be targeted in areas of greatest need.

The good thing with this approach is that the public can be the Council’s eyes and ears in the community, and they are reporting real incidents in real time to enable prompt action to be taken. This app gives residents the ability to help change the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and to contribute to both a more co-operative and a cleaner borough.

The new web app has been jointly developed by the Safer Worcester Partnership, the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust (DWT) and Worcester City Council with funding from West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner. It is free to access and uses GPS locaters to provide a simple and easy way for people to report dog mess and will help create an interactive map of the city showing the worst affected areas. It also shows the nearest poo bin to the location of the person accessing the app.

As this is free there is no deterrent to residents who are tech savvy from accessing it and using it. As you will know from complaints relayed to you, Councillors are constantly approached by constituents who are enraged by seeing dog poo on our pavements and who demand real action now. Poowatch allows them to be part of that action and make a difference rather than simply registering a complaint.

I would therefore like to ask you for an update as to where this authority is at in terms of introducing Poowatch to the Oldham Borough.

I have enclosed a recent article from First Magazine from the LGA.

I shall look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely

Howard Sykes

CC Cllr Fida Hussain

Talking Bus and Tram Stops

tfgm

Dr Jon Lamonte, Chief Executive, Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BG

Dear Dr Lamonte,

Talking Bus and Tram Stops

I am writing to you with another suggestion for improving our public transport services for passengers with a visual impairment.

I understand that Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership in 2015 received a £10 million award to introduce new technology to improve public services.  Under the City Verve Project, this will include the introduction of talking bus stops, which also permit interaction with passengers.

At present, announcements of bus and tram arrivals are visual and therefore of no use to passengers with a visual impairment.  This causes them considerable inconvenience.

Surely it must be possible to make announcements on a public tannoy at tram and bus stops as happens at railway stations?  I know announcements are available at bus stands in bus stations but this requires the pro-active intervention of the passenger pressing a button, which is fine if they can see the stand and can see the button.

Please can I ask where we are in relation to the introduction of talking bus and tram stops and what proposals are in place to roll this provision out across the network?

I shall look forward to your response.