Britain's Buses at their Best

[@davidchilds9590]

Congratulations - this should be nominated for an Emmy. Well structured, well scripted, well presented, well edited - great professional production values !

[@kapage74]

As someone that works in the bus industry (I have the pleasure of working with Passenger too), I absolutely love what you've done here Geoff. You've put a ton of effort into this, and it shows, you've really dine a great job highlighting the wonders of this industry As someone who's visually impaired I'm never legally going to be able to drive, I just love being able to work in an industry that can not only help provide for people like myself, but people in general, and you've captured that perfectly. Thank you 💜

[@BaileyMagikz]

just wait till you feel the pain of working with Passengers (it's a love hate relationship lol) you end putting up with em 😅

[@nwalsh1]

Loved this whole video. It's so refreshing to see that not everything in the UK is in decline.

[@b1998En]

Fun Fact: The Harrogate 36 is numbered after the 36 unique mineral springs harrogate is famous for!

[@VongChung-f1q]

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[@cllee8699]

Any idea why the '36' number is displayed on the right hand side of the bus followed by the destination on the left, instead of the number being displayed on the left hand side so any passengers from the roadside will be easier to identify the correct route, as used by most of the buses in the UK?

[@danielfield2570]

RIP Harry though.

[@mikep-1824]

​@@cllee8699 Standard arrangement on Transdev Blazefield vehicles. Re the commentary the 36 has had 2+1 seating upsides ever since the 2003 revamp by Blazefield.

[@mikep-1824]

@@b1998En there are 88 mineral springs. 36 were found in Bogs Field.

[@NorthEssexTravel-xc8gi]

Great video. I started my own bus company about 18 months ago now. Nowhere near as big as some operators. But I love it and we have a lot of people that enjoy coming on our buses and coaches. I love the innovation in the industry in the past, present and to come. In a lot of areas the big operators dominate. But worth remembering that there are just as many areas where small independent companies are the back bone of an area.

[@SeanSMST]

A mate of mine is a driver for the local private service around our college. He's been doing it for a long time, continuing to support the community, his family (and students like myself sometimes) with that job. It's really interesting.

[@crossleydd42]

I think that this is the finest video you've ever done, Geoff. It's wonderful to see such enthusiasm from folk working in the industry. Let's hope that the high standard of service shown here is adopted by the less inspiring bus operators!

[@krissp8712]

​@@tremensdelirious They're also good, but this is a strong showing none the less!

[@GojiMet86]

Buses, the unsung workhorses of transportation, the heroes the working class needs. Not as sexy as a 300 km/h Shinkansen speeding past, not as flashy as a brand-new Elizabeth line train pulling into Paddington. But the vital veins that feed the trains, which cannot crawl through these cracks and crevices that only a bus can reach.

[@TalesOfWar]

Indeed. And this is why we need a wholistic approach to public transit! Trains for longer, inter-city commuting, trams and metro for high capacity within the urban area and busses linking all of these modes together.

[@neilrmartin1984]

That's the issue - too many people see buses as transport for the 'working class'. London is perhaps the exception. It will take a cultural change to shift attitudes

[@user-lp5wb2rb3v]

trains too

[@nntflow7058]

Buses allows me to walk 3 minutes from the front door of my apartment to the bus station and another 2 minutes from another bus station to my place of work. Much better than train and those long platform.

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

Wow Geoff. You've really highlighted what keeps Britain moving...BUSES...!!! 💯% Without them, we just couldn't get around. 🤔 I can see you taking this topic further afield with 'Around The World in 80 Buses'...!!! 🚍🌍🌎🌏🤗

[@geofftech2]

Anton !!! Thank you!! ( too kind ) Coffee on me when we eventually bump into each other !!!

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

​@@geofftech2...yes Geoff we need to meet up soon. Your content is fantastic. Thankyou for the time and effort put into your recent bus videos.

[@TheSuperTiger2011]

Thank you for helping to keep London moving along with 1000s of others.

[@W2APS]

We're lucky in High Wycombe that Arriva decided to close our depot and the one in Aylesbury as it meant they left and took their awful service away. Carousel have come in to replace them and they're so much better. That and they reverted all the route numbers back to historical ones everyone knew. Just need an electric fleet here now so that they do the hills better and ride smoother. I really liked the electric buses in Oxford.

[@stevejobs1955]

Wow, high Wycombe is absolutely brilliant. Surprised about Aylesbury​@@tremensdelirious

[@ChappersTravels]

I wish Carousel Served Aylesbury as there buses are much nicer than a majority of Redline buses

[@princethe7]

@@ChappersTravels redline buses you see more in the layby broken down outside thame than in service

[@MaxTaylor-h2s]

I live in Leighton Buzzard in bedfordshire near Milton Keynes the buses down there has its own network letter L so L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 which is impressive I like Carrousel Buses in high Wycombe

[@antonycharnock2993]

Why is it all the large UK wide bus companies that are terrible? Sheffield where I live used to be innovative in its buses. Then Firstbus & Stagecoach bought out all the local companies like Mainline & Yorkshire Traction. Hopefully soon the buses will be taken back under Mayoral authority like the Supertram like the Bee Network in Manchester. Stagecoach have recently introduced an electric service on one of the routes recently though.

[@richardarcher3254]

So pleased you have done a feature on buses, the backbone of public transport. Another great transport docu Geoff.

[@wteff8586]

What a great little documentary! Goes to show again how good of a filmmaker you are. I love the way you interview people especially and how you're able to bring out their passion.

[@fundthenine]

A lot of the success is owed to Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Their company has continued to prove that buses can be high-quality, affordable and reliable all at the same time. Makes a stark contrast from their near-destruction in 2019!

[@sus-sb9yw]

Whoah didnt expect to see you here your videos are great

[@fundthenine]

@@sus-sb9yw Thank you very much!

[@RUOKH]

Excellent presentation; we just now need to get our politicians to watch the film and realise what an asset we have in buses and how they can move this country toward a sustainable green future. Thanks Geoff and all.

[@ben.prescott]

Yay! Poole bus station! M2 is one of my local routes.

[@josiahsewell7824]

Brilliant video! What an amazing insight into buses across the country. I work as a driver for Morebus in Bournemouth and can honestly say they are the best company I have ever worked with.

[@tsungiraichiramba]

This should be a Channel 4 documentary

[@williamlekstakaj5892]

This is something you can't explain but you're right this is just like a C4 documentary

[@leftbas65]

I'm glad it's also on KZbin or I'd never get to enjoy Geoff's content.

[@wainber1]

@@leftbas65 I've also watched plenty of videos posted by the London, Ontario-born Amsterdam-based Not Just Bikes KZbin man and quite a few KZbinrs based in the contiguous US (among them the City Beautiful man). Buses, regardless of what stereotypes out there may exist about them, are so important to have to make a transport system work for more of the people that I'm sure such a system hopes to serve.

[@leftbas65]

@@wainber1 I watch their content, too, and I completely agree. It's just disheartening to realize how far behind we are. Things are improving, just at a glacier's pace. It's not hopeless, but just barely.

[@Nooticus]

Strongly disagree. ‘TV’ is no longer the gold standard; documentaries on TV are always, without exception, cringy, forced and patronising. This masterpiece isn’t any of that. Commercial TV = having to bend to the whim of the production company and dumbing down the content.

[@RenanSperendio]

The level of this documentary is amazing, your channel is one of the best ever

[@joshuanewall5491]

This was one of the best videos I have watched in a long time. As someone who absolutely loves buses and transport in general this was incredible to watch and glad buses are getting the recognition for what they do Great video Geoff

[@neilcrawford8303]

It's great to see some local authorities and the bus industry working together. We recently visited Berlin and Warsaw, and love the way their ticketing works. Bus, local trains, trams, S-Bahn, U-Bahn/Metro etc all on one ticket. Not having to deal with multiple operators or TOCs. One real delight is that 24 hour tickets are truly 24 hours, no matter when you first use the ticket. Also, none of the peak / off peak fare nonsense to catch the unaware traveller out. One rate all day. Fast and frequent transport, good interchanges to transfer between modes like bus or tram stops and stations by the railway station, unlike many towns and cities in the UK. Which is let down even more by poor to non existent street signage to direct to the bus or railway station. Leeds and Guildford are two examples I can think of. Another observation was that the drivers either rarely sell tickets, or just drive with no passenger contact. The buses having ticket machines on board, passengers using a ticket they purchased from the metro, or on line ticket. The driver just drove the bus, reducing the chances of abuse or conflict for the driver. Stops, and the journeys in general were so quick. You just board the bus, and off it goes. No delays while the driver issues or checks tickets or passes. There were plenty of travelling ticket inspectors going from bus to bus, and apart from one passenger, everyone we saw get checked had a ticket. While things are improving in some areas, depending on the level of involvement by the local authorities and willingness of the bus operators to cooperate, it still still is a lottery on where you live as far as the passenger is concerned. My stays in Berlin, Hamburg and Warsaw have really highlighted to me just how far behind we are in the UK compared to Europe. In all these cities, not only was the transport frequent (even on Sundays), well integrated, and affordable, it was also very well used. We live in Merseyside, and I look to the future with interest regarding Merseytravel and bus franchising. One benefit we already get is free bus and rail travel for the over 60s and disabled travellers, plus the all in one Saveaway ticket that can be purchased for bus and train travel. It would be so good, if in the future all cities and major towns could have a European style ticketing arrangement.

[@militiaofthelost]

shoutout to Passenger, we've had this app for Reading buses for some years now and popping down to Brighton recently and realising they also have the same app experience trying to check bus times was so nice and familiar, thanks Tom!! couldn't live without the bus tracker in there again

[@peabody1976]

I couldn't have clicked "Like" on this fast enough. This is a well-done, informative long-form video that others really should watch. Well done, Geoff! I love that the buses in each council area or regional area made similar changes: high frequency, colourful livery, good maintenance, and importantly TRAFFIC control to allow the buses to have some priority. That needs to be spread, not just in places with deficient networks but places with seemingly good networks, too.

[@francisgriffin1]

I am 71 and live in Brighton and use the buses many times a week. They provide an excellent service and the app on one's phone allows you to know when the next one is due so you can go out and catch with a short wait (20 minute service where I live). Will use the buses in the evenings instead of taxis and have nothing but praise. Had friends from Cumbria down recently and initially they thought that the quality of our service was the result of the north-south divide but I explained that Worthing (the next large town west) largely stop at 20.00 and that I thought that the buses were full because they provided a good service at a sensible cost. This video has confirmed that. Well done Geoff it's good to see something positive for a change.

[@kingcheesemus6307]

The restrictions on cars and expensive parking also massively help buses in Brighton, giving them many more passengers and quicker more reliable journeys.

[@template16]

An excellent documentary Geoff. It’s clear this has taken an enormous amount of work with a level of production you must be immensely proud of.

[@scemeengineer]

Thanks

[@alanchandler254]

The 36 is the main route between Ripon and Leeds, there is no train service. Use to use the 36 regularly, but they then cut the last buses from Leeds to Ripon , which means going for a show or the like in Leeds from Ripon, you have to watch the return time. Have to agree that the buses are comfortable and regular during the day.

[@MrBreadman1966]

Geoff you may not be aware that former BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration died in June 2022. But its good to see that his voice continues to be heard on the buses after his death.

[@geofftech2]

Gosh, i didn't realise ... how sad, my condolences. It's lovely that they're using his voice, yes!

[@RandomHuman4022]

What a great documentary, I hope we get more of this in future. It's so good to see industry professionals that are passionate about transport. Public transport really is the lifeline of daily life, these networks are almost like complex respiratory or nervous systems interweaving their way through towns and cities, connecting people's lives and allowing us to do what we need to do. Whether it's work, hospital appointments, school, shopping, cinema, holidays, good public transport allows us to do it simply and effectively. In London we're so lucky that the transport network makes travel almost an after thought so long as you know where you want to go, and it's great other towns and cities are starting to get that too.

[@kieranstravels]

Here in Merseyside, bus services are pretty good - Frequent service, relatively comfortable buses, and usually on time. This is a great documentary!

[@hugoe231500]

This really gives a great perceptive of how buses are brilliantly run when they are done right by people who knows what they are doing...

[@cyprianbeecroft569]

Wow, love to see buses getting recognised, especially on your channel!

[@smjrn63]

"It's the people you meet and the stories you end up becoming a part of." That resonates with me and has throughout my life with my career and with my travels. Some of the best moments and memories are so much more than just where I went but the amazing people I encountered along the way. There will be many bus trips on my next visit! The view into Brighton makes me want to add it to my list. I am going to have to stay for months to go, even part of the places I want to. Thank you for such an awesome video.

[@Mushroom2002]

Thanks

[@smn_link]

Simply great and inspiring! This should be a lesson for public transport companies in my home country, Italy. They are often far from the concept of comfort and branding shown in the video. Thank you so much!

[@aarontibbett]

Great video Geoff, loving the long form documentary style for this. It’s clear a lot of time and effort went into it. Plus those bus seats on the m1/m2 sure are the best I’ve sat on too!

[@BigglesAboutTown]

Geoff you have really outdone yourself. If I wasn’t already an avid user of buses I would want to become one now! I use them everyday to get to work here in Paris, but also I am in the uk quite often and have already found myself on some of the routes you’ve shown, for instance the number 7 in Brighton, which is very useful when you come out of the train station and you want to go uphill. It’s so nice to be able to see the faces that are behind the infrastructure that is offered to us and see how passionate they are. Thank you Geoff

[@Anonymoususer_8823]

Perhaps this should have been on TV rather than on KZbin but very good work. I do like buses and I ride on the bus lots of times and they are so convenient and enjoyable to ride on.

[@anthonyhope2589]

When I lived in London many years ago, I preferred taking the bus over the Tube whenever possible. Yes, it was slower but more comfortable than the sardine can underground carriages.

[@sma_wwong]

Brilliant work. This flim is like a pat on the shoulder to all the transport worker, reminding us to stay Passionate, and that we are all important and part of something big even tho we may seem small and insignificant

[@AntonFanify]

Thank you for doing this fantastic documentary concerning the best buses in the UK.

[@dcw127]

Geoff, your journalism skills are second to none. A truly brilliant documentary, cingratulations and well done to everyone.

[@kennymccartney1619]

Really glad to see all these examples and it's good to know what excellence looks like elsewhere. Immensely proud of Lothian Buses in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Extremely reliable, comfortable, and fairly priced. Goes everywhere you need to go with excellent Night Bus coverage too. No better service in Scotland (and I'd argue anywhere in the UK which has been recognised before but this is always up for debate). Really encouraging video about the less sexy public transport that is bus travel! Well done.

[@stewartlegg855]

Lothian has been out in front for so long that it just shows what an amazing outfit it has consistently been. I love it that they have the city crest back on some of the new buses. I visited Edinburgh a number of times and contrasted it with the post deregulation shambles in my own town.

[@david-stewart]

Public owned busses for Glasgow!

[@Nyx._]

Glad to see Brighton&Hove buses included :)

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

Admirably shows the efforts being made in improving bus travel to/from urban centres. But, the lamentable bus coverage in many rural areas is a major issue, which perhaps you could consider in a future video. Meanwhile, keep up your excellent work. It's a real public service. Thank you.

[@grahamwebster9937]

Loved this documentary-style video Geoff. And really good that you are producing material on buses as well as trains. Keep it all coming!!

[@stuartbusdriver2038]

Thanks for another awesome video with my employer Geoff

[@SimonRML2456]

A most excellent documentary Geoff , well done, very enjoyable and informative. Always look forward to your episodes here in Austria , a former London Transport bus driver driving buses in Vienna...

[@MJAlford98]

Fantastic documentary highlighting not just the importance of buses in keeping people moving, but also the importance and simplicity of making basic improvements to bus services to help improve the appeal of the bus. Well done Geoff!

[@hespro3523]

Good to see some parts of the country have good bus services but you should do a follow-up about towns which aren't so lucky with hourly services during the day, none in the evenings and on Sundays, and poor reliability standards.

[@alanwest7773]

Excellently presented and produced. Recently I was talking to somebody I know about the numerous people that we both know that I had seen and spoken to in recent weeks and months. He lamented that he never sees any of these people anymore. This difference is because he drives everywhere by car and I make the vast majority of my journeys by bus.

[@dougchinn2820]

Fantastic video! The overall transportation systems (i.e., train, Tube or bus) in the UK are amazing.

[@wibblewabblewoo6249]

Really good to watch such a positive (& well done!) documentary, would be lovely if more of the UK could get this quality of service

[@allanfoster6965]

An excellent range of moquette as well as good services.

[@BluefearHere]

Bravo Geoff. Nice turn of topic. Really nice format. As a former user of the 36 i appreciate your attention to something "up north". 🎉

[@kierangallagher491]

You should make a video on the 192 in Manchester, it’s one of Britain’s most frequent routes running every 3 minutes during rush hour. Stagecoach always put some of their nicest buses on there.

[@andrewholland1390]

Will be interesting to see what is put on that route from January '25 as the route changes operator, becomes part of the Bee Network and gets different buses along with the rest of South Manchester

[@kierangallagher491]

@@andrewholland1390 Stagecoach have retained the 192, along with the rest of the Stockport franchise, so I assume it’ll be the BZLs that are already on order for it (whenever they actually decide to turn up).

[@KennethCampbell]

This was such an enjoyable watch. My key takeaway is that it is incumbent upon city councils and local transportation partners to inspire more bus ridership. It was refreshing to hear one of the operators talk about marketing and community engagement. Thanks for this fantastic documentary, Geoff.

[@AndyH2O]

The woman at around 12 or so minutes made a joke that I think whooshed by Geoff, "the 36 is I guess the posher of the buses, because it comes from Harrogate." Harrogate is one of those places where if you say you live there people might go "ooh, Harrogate, get you!" (if they know you.) Aside from the regional humour element this was a really interesting eye-opener on what is going on around the country with regard to buses.

[@quintuscrinis]

Harrogate was built to be a rich person's retreat and it shows - as someone who likes their politics it's certainly worth noting that Harrogate is one if the few parts of Northern England where Labour don't exist!!

[@Harmonikdiskorde]

I wouldn't be able to find Harrogate on a map (yes, I am American..) but I definitely got her joke!

[@ziggarillo]

It wasn't a joke

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@Harmonikdiskorde Some places just sound posh, Harrogate is one of those places.

[@AndyH2O]

@@ziggarillo I stand corrected.

[@-MapEnthusiastjj4eu]

12:59 that is such a cool feature I've never seen that, these buses are truly fantastic.This documentary is a masterpiece thank you Geoff. Keep doing more documentary style videos the're great

[@no2663]

I was so surprised to see Morebus featured in this video, but it was cool to see a local operator get some praise. They're honestly a quite good bus company overall, and so far they seem to be doing quite well after the fall of Yellowbus (and therefore having to take on all of their routes). And yeah their new m1/2s are pretty amazing, but I must say that the seats on the X3 are even more comfy. The interior of almost all the Morebus buses is really good, the colour design makes it so that I'm not travel sick, their older buses in the fleet are however absolutely atrocious with a really noisey rickety ride and those horrible scratchy fabric seats that double as dust magnets and make me feel really travel sick. Also surprised to not see Southampton's Unilink buses on this list, their U1A service runs like every 6min which is bloody impressive, and they seem to be quite well funded and I must say overall seem like a more 'developed' bus service compared to Morebus. A notable mention would be Warrington's own buses ''Cheshire cat'' bus livery variant, no clue what it's about but the bus has an adorable kitty cat graphic plastered all over it! (just google images of it, you won't regret it)

[@doughunt9621]

The X3 has recently been stocked with new vehicles to the same standard as the M1/2. The older buses have been cascaded down to local services, still X3 livery but X3 branding removed., so some luxury vehicles may turn up on less frequent routes.

[@no2663]

@@doughunt9621 yeah most of the X3s I've been on have been pretty damn nice, lovely seats, nice like refreshed interior, and some have table seats upstairs with those lil puck lights above which is cool

[@mehulygohil]

Thank you for a superb video, Geoff! I was blown away by Mr. Stenning so much so that I just picked the phone and spoke to him. Absolute legends these people! TYVM.

[@Sigira0]

Brilliant documentary Geoff! I thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you.

[@cykev1302]

Very interesting and enjoyable documentary. Being a Londoner, buses are part of my childhood. I spent some time in Chelmsford visiting family earlier this year and was very impressed with the bus service in the area, very reasonable ticket prices to. The only issue was the frequency of the buses to outlying areas, improve that and they are onto a winner.

[@Squaretable22]

Metrobus in the Crawley area is also great :) the Fastway is a great piece of bus infrastructure and the new hydrogen buses are so smooth and comfortable. Having hourly buses throughout the night across several routes to places as far as Redhill and Horsham, and Turn Up and Go through the day on the major routes is incredible. It truly makes Crawley a 24/7 town, which is great given the amount of shift workers due to the Airport.

[@berniestep]

A superb view of the innovation taking place on the buses. Well-researched, excellently presented and explained, and thoughtfully edited. A better piece than many of the documentaries on the TV.

[@TransportNut89]

On the day this came out, Stagecoach have announced huge improvements for the Swindon area

[@donstravelsandrants.]

Fantastic buses. Great job Geoff. 👍😊🇮🇪🇬🇧

[@elainemulberryrat5300]

Well made documentary. Passionate employees and nice photography. Nice one Geoff.

[@adambrinleycodd1712]

You've made a LOT of great content, but this is one of the best. Emotional and inspiring, thank you!

[@simonhorn1745]

Roger will be number one viewer!! Nice geoff as per

[@geofftech2]

Worked with Roger to make this happen! [ he basically made this happen, hence the credit at the end ]

[@GojiMet86]

@@geofftech2 As a busfan living across the pond, Roger is my number one source for all the workings and ongoings in the British bus ecosystem (along with diamondgeezer)! Good to see someone who, fortunately now, has the time to critique and analyze what is going right and what is going wrong. Also interesting to see the parallels with the American ecosystem.

[@Nooticus]

Absolutely phenomenal. This video gave me goosebumps, thats how moving it was to see such innovation and positivity from so many people in this great industry. Geoff, you have once again done an unbelievable job at this, i cant even imagine the sheer amount of planning, filming and editing to get this done. Thanks to the 10% group for funding this, especially the irreplaceable legend that is Roger French!

[@damianpotter1678]

I'm an avid fan of Geoff Marshall. I drive buses at Transdev Harrogate - I'm gutted that I missed you in the bus station.

[@bobbyx5373]

I think this is one of the best and informative KZbin videos I have seen in a while. Marvellous.

[@user-ex4go1hp2h]

Wow, Geoff travelled past the bottom of my road on the 36. I wasn't expecting that! I absolutely love the 36. It used to skip out stops in urban Leeds until a few years back (it's first stop to drop off passengers from Leeds towards Harrogate was the Queen's Arms in Chapel Allerton, with a couple of pick-up only stops before that). But ever since they stopped at every stop, and word spread about it, it's popularity amongst North Leeds travellers has boomed in the past year or two. 6 services an hour combined with the 8 First Leeds services an hour along Chapeltown and Harrogate Road equates to a service every 4-5 minutes, a great turn up and go London esque service for this corridor! The only complaint I have is that Harrogate Bus Company and First Leeds don't work together to co-ordinate the timetable, for example a 36 and a First bus (2/3/3A) are often timetabled to turn up at the same time, then there's a 7-10 minute wait for the next one. First world problem I know! Love hearing Harry Gration's voice every time I ride on the 36, dearly miss him. Hope they retain his voice on the new fleet (as he obviously can't record new announcements!) Thanks Geoff for this awesome documentary! Sadly, still, for every good bus there is an unreliable, bad bus. Next time you are in Leeds, try riding the 91, one of the few buses in Leeds which don't go in and out of the city centre.

[@mikep-1824]

They were auditioning for a new announcer at the preview event they held the other month

[@user-ex4go1hp2h]

@@mikep-1824 That's a shame, I like hearing Harry's dulcet tones

[@noahthompson7559]

I spent pretty much all my childhood catching the 36 bus, has always been a great service!

[@BristolRE]

Loved this! More buses please!

[@paul-88E]

Really enjoyed this video. A little longer than your usual ones. I met Ray Stenning once, at a Showbus Duxford Rally. He's completely mad, but so creative, and Best Impressions are really really good at designing bus liveries, and marketing leaflets. The standard of buses has improved so much since I first caught one back in the 1970s. Great video Geoff.

[@lukeyboy95]

Great video, great pioneers, great partnerships. And an opportunity for me to shame First Glasgow where they price their 12 minute 500 service to Glasgow Airport at £15.00, whilst their stopping service the 77 which takes over an hour, is priced at £9.79. Not exactly selling it to folk.

[@Stevenspielburger]

Great video! The "Ribbet" noise on the Leicester Hop!" Is brilliant!

[@fellbridgegang6854]

Fanatastic video as usual. You should visit Manchester and take a deep dive into the bee network ( when it’s all fully complete)

[@andrewholland1390]

Yup I second that! Seeing that Metroline are well advanced with stockpiling new buses ahead of them assuming their south Manchester contracts from January '25, I think it's been quite some time since Manchester has seen such a big influx of new (or refurbished to a high standard) buses in a short space of time. TfGM has indicated that already the Bee Network is seeing passenger numbers up on where they were a year before, just one year on and with the network still only partially in place (the third and final tranch for the buses comes in January '25). If TfGM gets this right, this too could become a model for other large urban areas across the UK as they look to improve and take back control of bus services.

[@davidaarthur]

What a beautiful shot at 13.30! I wish more of the bus operators in Canada could take these lessons about making the vehicle an appealing product.

[@andyb2706]

Buses are a community, I was on a bus in Cheshire countryside last week, and the passengers and drivers knew each other, this was nice to see and brought a smile to my face.

[@RichardWells1]

First rate - excellent documentary, Geoff! A well-researched, accessible piece of television, well-paced, up-beat and compelling watching. And all in half-an-hour! More like this please!

[@EdwardMason9000]

The changes to buses in Leicester over the last few years has really made it easier to get around. The tap-on tap-off fares means you can go anywhere now without worrying about it costing you a fortune!

[@EdwardMason9000]

@@Borderman47 There's definitely still improvements to be made. The Aylestone Road corridor on Sundays is a shining example of a service that at least needs increased running hours, if not a bump in frequency.

[@powernetworker6526]

This is true, but it's a shame how many rural services they axed completely in the name of making these changes/improvements within the centre

[@WooRSte]

You think? I still find them to be late or non existent most of the time 😢😅

[@EdwardMason9000]

@@powernetworker6526 Mostly because Leicestershire County Council unfortunately aren't as interested in long term investment as the City Council is.

[@EdwardMason9000]

@@WooRSte Well, true. Unfortunately Leicester has some of the worst traffic outside of London at peak times. That isn't really the bus companies' fault though. As ever, improvements could be made

[@Enfinauniverso]

I enjoyed this documentary. Seeing people talk positively about public transport and in particular about buses made me feel a bit more hopeful about this country. Buses provide much needed mobility to millions of people.

[@Nooticus]

You need to try and surround yourself with more people who are realists rather than pessimists. Its an objective fact that we live at one of the most prosperous times in history, in one of the richest and most highly developed countries on earth. Yes, life is very hard for many people, but it is a matter of perspective; the people complaining about the UK have no idea what daily life is like in 95% of other countries on earth.

[@deadgamer21]

Well never thought i'd wake up to see my street on youtube 😂, also the amount of cars that bollard has taken out loooool

[@Eddyspeeder]

Love this! Seeing so many countries cut costs on bus services (or just don't care about the "experience" of the product they offer), these views and examples are heartwarming. Thank you Geoff! So I can only support what was said in this video about the buses in Bournemouth. I've been on buses both to and in Bournemouth, and really enjoyed how spacious they were, not feeling crowded even in the morning rush. It is a different story for Leicester. I found the bus services to the varous neighbourhoods outside of the city centre abysmal, even to where hospitals were! I opted to take a taxi or to go on foot instead. But that was pre-pandemic.

[@Rainny78900]

Fantastic video, I really enjoyed driving for you that day 😊

[@IainG81]

This exceptionally well made and of very high quality, film, TV documentary level. Lovely to watch.

[@DaveP668]

The perfect bus service is one which doesn't have a timetable as they are so regular you know its never long for one. Our 'high' frequency bus is three an hour. 20 minutes is too long to wait if you miss one. 10 minutes max at peak hours is ideal. I'd also reduce the number of stops so services are quicker. Stops every 400m, rather than the 150m or so at the moment in my area, its just too many in urban areas.

[@samsteven7261]

As a bus enthusiast, some of these people I'd love to have a long conversation with! Great video Geoff!

[@andyt2510]

5:30 - the most frequent service I know of is the 50 in Birmingham, which has one bus every 4 minutes mainly by National Express West Midlands though Diamond also run on it ws well. It may lose a bit of frequency though when the Camp Hill line finally opens to passengers

[@discogareth]

I think most people’s experience of the 50 is more like 5 buses at once every 20 minutes.

[@misterflibble9799]

NXWM website seems to suggest that it's every 5/6 minutes. I don't know whether it's still the case, but back when I was in Birmingham (mid-90s), there used to be a service between the Centre and Alum Rock whose timetables would list the early morning times, and then just write "then every few minutes until" and then the evening times. It was so frequent that, during the day, there was almost always one in sight.

[@euanwill6196]

What a high quality documentary! Excellent work Geoff 🎉

[@jerrytwolanes4659]

If there were an award show for transport videos, this would easily be a contender for an award. This video was pure gold. So very professional and polished. It was so entertaining and I live in America! Great job Geoff!

[@marthaanderson2656]

Superb presentation Geoff. It feels like a whole new step in your body of work

[@NJRD977]

We do have a brilliant 24 hour bus service in Brighton and Hove - living on the number 7 route around the corner from Conway St depot gives a great access into the city but also the well thought out interconnections between services. Also can't believe you did not call out the bus naming tradition in Brighton and Hove

[@SteveInskip]

Great documentary Geoff and what a lovely set of people who are pushing this. Let’s hope the £2 fare lasts a lot longer and the transition to better and more frequent busses continues.

[@halleradam]

Well in my city in the USA, bus riders can stand on a dirt patch and hang out for an hour with some scruffy types waiting for a classic 1984 model city special, that even has the hard plastic seats with the beige color upgrade! Beat that!

[@alanchandler254]

@@halleradam many years ago (60's I think) there was some sort of transport festival in New York, and London transport sent a standard Routemaster bus. Upholstered seating, double deck, etc.. The locals couldn't believe that this was a normal service bus, not one specially made for the show.

[@RailBus63]

Excellent work, Geoff - I hope your documentary is seen by civic leaders far and wide and generates enthusiasm and support for efforts to improve and expand bus transport services.

[@turbostar7077]

Transdev do have very comfortable buses not just on the36 but in general, they are a very good bus company. Their annoucements also have some character on all their buses and aren't just the same monotone text to speech voice. Although Transdev are a brilliant bus company, I'd much prefer FCEV Wright Streetdecks rather than BEV ADL Enviro 400s but it's good that they're going green (and the E400s are much better than the eCitaros the local Harrogate & Keighley services are getting). Also at 7:26 Transdev took over Harrogate & District (and others) from Blazefield Group in 2006 not 11.

[@Bigaitch500]

This is superb Geoff, and good to see an acknowledgement of your excellent work by getting the commission. Its slso good to see busses being utilised effectively and to their real potential. Bus operators in Essex please take note.

[@CheekyBandit]

Sheffield has a completely dire bus service, which had some routes changed last Sunday to a far worse service. None of the buses here have audio visual announcements apart from the Sheffeld Connect (the equivalent of Leicester's HOP). This is the very city where Louise Haigh, the so called transpoirt minister, has her seat.