Why can't every commercial bus company market their services like this? (And like Alex did at Transdev Blazefield Harrogate Bus Cº) Don't they want increased ridership and revenue?

Did we mention Bournemouth? History repeated itself for Go South Coast, following First Bus' withdrawal from Southampton in Feb 2023. First's orderly departure allowed a well-planned update to Bluestar’s network. busandtrainuser.com/2023/02/18/f...

And this one, on how Andrew and his team built and developed the high-frequency services across BCP to the extent that a single-decker every 3mins still didn't have the capacity for crowd-shifting, so high-spec double-deckers were needed. busandtrainuser.com/2023/10/14/m...

For a flavour of Andrew's achievements, you could hardly top Roger @busandtrainuser.bsky.social French's blog on how the More Bus team replaced the Yellow Bus services in BCP in record time. busandtrainuser.com/2022/08/07/m...

And an obit from routeone. www.route-one.net/news/obituar...

Andrew Wickham. A sad and untimely loss to the bus industry.
Brilliant tribute from Roger @busandtrainuser.bsky.social
French. busandtrainuser.com/2025/05/25/s...

Neither Johnson/Palmer is/was fan of NR/TOCs & would like more powers over local rail. Dr Nik has been pursuing CPCA/NR acquisition of Snailwell curve, to provide a Cambridge-Newmarket-Soham-Ely service. TBF this was also an ambition for James, but he got distracted by CAMetro’s multi-untried tech.

Why both @mayordrnik.bsky.social & predecessor (Palmer) favoured ‘franchising’ (Bus Services Act 2027 term). Powers have been signed by Johnson, but will take time.
Should be ‘contracted services’ as NO buses will be run at whim of any operator. ALL will be on CPCA routes/times/fares.

CBG-ELY by train is fast frequent and reasonably affordable. This is why no bus service can compete.
Whilst the current route 9 does help connect Littleport, Chetisham, Little Thetford and Streatham to Ely & Cambridge it’s not really fit for purpose in its current format.

On the other hand, a £3 fare each way on route 7 Cambridge - Saffron Walden is a scenic ride, especially from the top deck. And, as you're in the hands of a professional driver, it's OK to have a beer/wine with a meal.

Most often its the train we need rather than a bus. If we're heading to anywhere within, I dunno, 5 miles or so its rarely even a question, we'll cycle.

Which is nice, but our transport system is positively neolithic. It's about 17 minutes on the train to Ely from here, on a bad day. I'd be ok if, say, three people were cheaper driving together. But its cheaper for one. Bonkers

Happy to say that, locally, under @mayordrnik.bsky.social and @anna4labour.bsky.social (Deputy & Transport Lead) for Cambs&P'bo'ro CA, £2 single continues (£1 'Tiger Card' fares for Under-25s) and Franchising decision has been signed.

...and it isn't sustainable, it isn't equitable, its not safe, and its not healthy. (fin)

...are we going to ditch it? I dunno. Probably. But this hilights just how absurd car culture is in the UK - trains and buses are insanely expensive. Driving is ludicrously cheap. The result is cars dominate everything, everyone, everywhere. Its not right (7)

...and other than if the car breaks (its barely used so doesn't break much) because its small and efficient its cheap to tax and costs little to maintain. This... Can't be right. It just can't. (6)

...like its a little old i10, its not expensive to run. But even so, you'd be thinking that the inflection point where its cheaper driving should be somewhere towards three or four people going by car rather than 1. It is, straight up, if you have the car, cheaper to drive literally anywhere (5)

...and there are things like zipcars for occasional big things we might need to get. But we started costing up normal trips too - one person, on the train from Cambridge North to Ely, is more expensive than one person driving. Parking there is free (4)

So we're talking about getting rid of it again, and costing up options. Getting a hire car for emergencies is an option, and of course we ride bikes to everywhere within reach. And bike-train via. Cambridge North is fine... (3)