Bite that tongue

Ever had a real struggle to keep yourself quiet in public? Seeing Ian Lavender on Holly City tonight has reminded me of the time I met him.  I may have written about this before but never mind.

We were holding a bus user meeting in Bury St Edmunds and he came along to ask about a bus stop near his house. He ended up talking to a colleague about it, who promised to look into it and get back to him. A colleague who had no idea who he was talking to. So when said colleague asked for his name, the temptation to shout "don't tell him, Pike" was almost too much to bear.

Ten years or so on and that still makes me giggle and cringe at the same time.

Protest!

Protest!, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Someone is a bit upset about recent cuts to bus services and has plastered our bus station and other town centre stops with a range of stickers like this one. So now I am going to have to pay our cleaners extra to remove them all, further biting into the revenue budget that could have been used for services... I must say the perpetrator has put a lot of time and effort into producing the different stickers, but they are in many ways aimed at the wrong person. The role of the chief exec is to implement the policies set by the elected councillors after all...

Another Mr Angry on the phone

Westleton relic a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

OK, I know I'm ever so slightly biased as it is part of my job to decide locations for them, but I do fail to understand quite how worked up people can get over the presence of a bus stop somewhere in the vicinity of their house. And let us be clear about this, I am not talking about a bus shelter, or a raised kerb for wheelchair access or even something as sinister as a timetable display case. Just a simple sign on a pole (and often on a lamp column that was there already, rather than a purpose built post). And in at least 9 out of 10 of complaints we are talking about locations that have been bus stops (not necessarily marked with a flag, but registered with us, with the bus companies and showing up on Google Maps) for as long as anyone can remember.

Over the years I have been accused of:
Endangering lives - if people are waiting at the bus stop when I want to pull in or out of my drive I won't be able to see and may hit them/oncoming traffic. Well, try looking with your eyes, and anyway it is rare indeed for most stops to actually have someone waiting for most services.

Ruining sleep - how can I get any rest with a bus stop outside my house? This is a pretty rural county and we only have two bus services that run past 11pm, and one of those sticks to the A12, and only a handful that start before 7am. Apologies to the night shift people, but the road would be there anyway and, indeed, so would the buses be passing by.

Devaluing property - I want at least £10,000 in compensation as that's what my house has lost in value. Er, no it hasn't. In fact, in this day and age I can see people choosing a house because there is a stop handy and they don't need to buy that car.

Destroying property - my 16th century cottage is being shaken to pieces by bus-induced vibrations or people waiting are leaning on my wall and knocking it down/leaving marks on it. You can prove that can you? We survey our stops regularly so I've got photos of your house going back at least ten years I can look for cracks on...

And so much more. My pet favourite is when children can no longer play in the garden because somebody might look in from the upper deck. Which, again, they could have been doing all along as the bus route has been passing your hosue for years.

MrsB and I lived with a bus stop outside our flat before we bought the house and it never bothered us one little bit. And that had a shelter and everything. OK, so some stops get kids hanging around them with nothing better to do, but then so do 100 other street corners without a bus stop and I'm not taking responsibility for that one.

There are more pressing things in this world to worry about.

Park And Reflect

Park And Reflect
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

Since I restarted this blogging malarky I've tried not to write about work too much. Not through any fear of people finding out, reprisals or whatever but simply because I think I did too much of that first time around and no-ne else is interested. You can read the archives if you really like.

But today I have to get stuff off my chest because I am not a happy bunny.

I've moved around within my team/department over the last 12 years and every time have had to bite my tongue about what the people who come after me have done to and with the legacy I left behind.

So, for example, highly praised timetable books have been dropped, maps are no longer geographically accurate, connecting routes don't meet up any more, newlsetters have been dropped, awards have not been re-won. It is hard to see things I put time and effort into disappear, especially when they have been well received in the real world and people still contact me rather than my successors in the hope of getting a straight answer.

Now we have a new Government slashing our budgets, and a major casualty is one of the three Park & Ride sites I did my best to build, run and develop. For a county committed to going green I can only see this as a short-sighted blow. Where other departments get "invest to save" money we just seem to lose out. I am sure a bit of decent marketing and genuine customer focus could do wonders, bring in more punters and cut the costs in the medium term, but it seems that is not an option.

But what annoys me most is reading about it in the local paper before being told internally. That really is not on.

If our bosses want us to stick with them through these troubled times then communications have to be sorted out and staff have to know before Joe public.

Too late for them to change their minds now, but I hope that future cuts and changes will be reflected on a bit more and those of us who actually care about getting things done can be kept a bit more in the loop.

Mixing with the gricers

Georgina
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

Took a trip to Duxford yesterday for the Showbus event. Went four years in a row when I first started at the council due to free bus journeys and reduced entry being offered, but this was my first visit since 2001.

A glorious day in terms of weather (they normally call it Showerbus) and I quite enjoyed getting back into the old buses as art kind of thing. And of course I like to see the planes as well. Lots of pictures which will gradually make their way onto the usual place.

OK, so the buses do bring out the bus enthusiasts, some of whom can be a little scary in their obsessions (and in need of a good wash/spray down with Sure), and there really was no need for wooly hats yesterday, but a generally harmless crowd. Some of whom I know of old, and some of whom drive me to work on a regular basis. Good to bump into some of them.

Funniest moment was two women I overheard. As they reached the end of a line of buses one said "Oh no, not more of them" and the other responded with "Aye, there's not much here for them of us as don't like buses or planes". Which tickled me. I assume they had husbands off jotting down chassis numbers somewhere.

Felixstowe Run 2009

Cluster
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

Another good day at the seaside with old vehicles.

Pictures now going up on Flickr so click through to see more.

Oh bottoms, have forgotten to bring a cup with me today so I'm going to have to either overdose on fizzy stuff or just go thirsty. I should have known something would get left behind - everything else went nicely ahead of schedule this morning when getting ready to leave the house. Grrrr. Mind you, today is looking like being just as grey and dismal and rainy as yesterday was (although a fraction warmer) so I shouldn't be expecting everything to go just fine now. And still fairly bloomin' freezing here in the office, although not as bad as yesterday.

Watched Charlie's Angels - Full Throttle last night. Even more of a switch the brain off film than the last two mentioned, but thoroughly enjoyably daft anyway. And more a case of listing who wasn't in the film somewhere than who was. I think there was a plot in there somewhere between all the action set pieces and costume changes... I think I will also have to take the time one of these days to watch all the extra features from both CA films. Purely for research purposes and to gain a fuller understanding of the nuances of the film-making process you understand.

Have managed to get a bit further in the "Park & Ride as transport hub" report thanks to the lack of distractions here but still can't say I'm gripped by the material. I think I will at least manage a finished first draft for people to look at by the end of play this week but am not promising that it will be gripping reading.

Talk about big cheesy grin time. Spent much of the morning riding around Park & Ride routes on a nice Nottingham City Transport articulated bus Ipswich Buses had borrowed for the day. Now that is what I call fun in a bus and I want them for Martlesham. Probably be defeated on cost, but it has to be tried. Damn thing went like a dream, fitted through all the gaps we thought might prove awkward and would turn on a sixpence. And IBL are desinging their new depot with them in mind as people won't go upstairs on double deckers and they have a couple of low bridges to contend with anyway on certain routes. Got to be a serious consideration really. I think the only issue will be to do with the fact that although they will hold 150 odd people only 50 get to sit down. And the people of Ipswich don't like standing up.

And no Sonic on the office today either so I'm able to get on with what needs doing.

Last night we relaxed and rather than the planning for who gets what in the will we are making next week we instead watched The Italian Job. Wonderful as always and much improved from DVD. I was surprised that Joan had never seen it before though. And almost a year since I last watched it - she is away for this year's Argos conference on Sunday night...

Now I have finished my part on the timetables that are changing on the 7th April I thought I could relax a teensy bit and just check them when they come back from Pindar. But no, Ipswich Buses are now changing the majority of their network in May. Back to the grindstone for me then.

Woo, bit of a busy day yesterday. Spent the morning showing three from Essex CC round the P&R sites. They were suitably impressed and asked allthe right questions. Hopefully if they get their own up and running it will be a good one now! They also took me to Pals for lunch, which was very tasty.

Then when I got back the final missing timetables had been confirmed so I spent the rest of the afternoon getting them in shape for printing. I'm glad that's all over and done with now (well, still loads of checking to do but the hardest bits are over).

Today I am planning to crack on with some ironing this morning and then relax this afternoon while Joan is at work, with a similar plan for tomorrow. So off I go...