First bus' new slogan "Transforming Travel" is rather apt it would seem.
Being a resident of Bradford for the greater part of my life, and currently one of those horrible student types, I have taken many, many journeys across the vast mess that is Bradford. There's one route which I take ... Read review
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Advantages: They really are 'Transforming Travel' Disadvantages: Problem is, they're transforming it into something s**t
First bus' new slogan "Transforming Travel" is rather apt it would seem.
Being a resident of Bradford for the greater part of my life, and currently one of those horrible student types, I have taken many, many journeys across the vast mess that is Bradford. There's one route which I take frequently however, which is the 610/612 service which runs from Shipley centre to Bradford town centre via the Five Lane End's roundabout. ... ...was just a nipper and first stated to take this regular journey to and from school, it used to cost me the grand total of 28p. That was in 2000. Now 5 years on, the exact same journey costs me 60p. And that's not due to any technicalities; it's still half fare and still the same route. Transforming more than just travel then, also transforming your wallet rather drastically. And this is where it all gets somewhat annoying. If you sit down and try ... more
First bus' new slogan "Transforming Travel" is rather apt it would seem.
Being a resident of Bradford for the greater part of my life, and currently one of those horrible student types, I have taken many, many journeys across the vast mess that is Bradford. There's one route which I take frequently however, which is the 610/612 service which runs from Shipley centre to Bradford town centre via the Five Lane End's roundabout. It conveniently goes past my house - although the stop does take just under 5 minutes to walk to - and continues on its way into Bradford centre; I however, get off at my school which is roughly 1.5 miles from my house.
Now, when I was just a nipper and first stated to take this regular journey to and from school, it used to cost me the grand total of 28p. That was in 2000. Now 5 years on, the exact same journey costs me 60p. And that's not due to any technicalities; it's still half fare and still the same route. Transforming more than just travel then, also transforming your wallet rather drastically. And this is where it all gets somewhat annoying. If you sit down and try and work out where that extra 32p has gone (as I once did during a particularly boring English lesson) then you'll come to a glum conclusion. It's gone straight into the back pocket of whoever owns First buses, and no doubt, the shareholders also.
Alright, they've bought a few new buses, but more than often I find myself sat on the very same buses I used to take 5 years ago, I came home today on something which probably ran on paint stripper and appeared to have been fashioned and designed from granite.
It's not going on fuel either, as they run them on tax-free diesel which costs pennies. It's not gone on drivers wages - taking inflation into account, they are paid almost exactly the same as those drivers around for the millennium.
And one things for definite, it sure as hell isn't going on extra driver training. I sometimes wonder if they are shelling out to make drivers actually worse. Take a first bus these days and you'd be hard pushed to disagree. Now i'm not tarring the entire workforce with the same brush. You get some very nice drivers, those who will actually maybe smile, or at least speak to you when you pa your fare, and i'm not joking either, the vast majority of them barely give you a grunt let alone look at you. Going back to the example of my journey home today on the Fred Flintstone-derived vehicle, the driver matched his bus perfectly, issuing a vague grunt along with your ticket. He certainly didn't drive the thing in accordance with its age or size though. At one point I actually felt quite unsafe and became rather wanton of a seatbelt.
So the service is poor, the buses even poorer, and you have to sell your mother and children to pay for the ride home. Now I know it's not an easy job when you're confronted with some of the delightful inhabitants of Bradford, and have to drive the same monotonous route all day long, but a little bit of customer service would be nice. First are taking strides to ensure the act of making a journey on public transport is a painless one. New buses are finally becoming commonplace, and some even have swanky new cameras and televisions to try and curb the ASBO behaviour which sometimes takes place on them.
But still, it's not enough. First should try to invest in more driving training, newer buses, and stop charging us for the pleasure rather than lining their pockets.
So transforming travel they may well be, but at the moment it's certainly not for the better.
Advantages: Brilliant idea, easy to understand Disadvantages: Often they run VERY late
FirstBradford has recently adopted a new system for its buses called the "Bradford Overground" where there are six "lines"; red, green, yellow, orange, pink and Blue connecting different parts of the city, for example the green line runs from Ravenscliffe/Greengates to Buttershaw and all the areas in between and all cross via Centenery Square in the city centre where you can change, say if you wanted to go from Wibsey to Manningham you could get either a Red or a Green from Wibsey into town, then I think it would be an Orange from the city centre to Manningham. This new system, as you have probably guessed is based on the London Underground System and makes it a lot easier to understand and you don't need timetables because they (supoposedly) run every ten minutes. The problem, however is when three come at once and you have to wait 40 ...
Advantages: Close to city centre and cathedral, work a quick visit Disadvantages: Would be nice to have some bars/cafes
buildings have become run down and the local council is trying to encourage regeneration. Some industrial buildings have been restored or turned into office accommodation and modern apartments while still keeping the essential character of the Victorian architecture.
The area is situated between Church Bank and East Parade and when the first merchants came they basically chose it because there wasn?t much else available in the centre of Bradford. It?s on a hill so that was likely why other people didn?t want that land ? and if you intend to explore Bradford on foot, be warned that the city generally is quite hilly. On the other hand, the area is not far from the train stations (Bradford has two) and therefore usefully located for transporting goods. The first merchants came in the 1850s and numbers remained static until the 1870s when ...
Advantages: Lots of history Disadvantages: The roof and chairs are very odd
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For most of its long life Bradford's Cathedral was the Parish Church of St Peter. It stands on Stott Hill in an elevated position overlooking the city below. It seemed surprising at first that it could be hidden from view when you are at street level but when you examine it carefully you will note that its main tower is quite short. This tower is also square, that is to say that there is no steeple so despite its location it is less prominent than many Cathedrals in other cities that I have visited.
A fancy archway on the street marks the entrance to the Cathedral but again this is somewhat misleading. At the top of the steps I had expected to find myself inside the building so I had turned off my mobile phone in preparation yet when I reached the top of the stone steps instead I myself on the edge of a lovely landscaped garden ...
New fleets for new routes, and the majourity of the older buses repainted if not completely refurbished both inside and out., Lots of new training bus
High fares for all services (although I hope these are only to cover short term losses and will be reconcidered when all services are stable). No chan (*)
