Arriva Strike

[Brickmill]

RE: Arriva Strike

(12/12/2017 17:06)wimdebusse Wrote:  I think you missed the point, large arias of Merseyside are the monopoly on one operator, as in Southport all the routes not operated by Arriva run along or near to the A565, which is fine for those living on or near the A565, but for everyone else it's "tuff luck" . I heard a driver asked yesterday about the strike on Wednesday and he basicly said won't know untill late on Tuesday, that's why I said Arriva and the unions have such contempt for the passengers, near as dam no notification as to whether there will be a bus service or not.

No need to comment on the dispute itself, now that its resolved, but Barney is right in terms of erroneous comparisons and complaints about "monopolies".
1. No bus company has a Monopoly because they are competing with all other modes of land transport.
2. Within the bus sector itself, the market has been in constant decline for many decades - the sharpest decline being 1987/8! From 346 million in 1985/6, patronage in Gtr. Manchester is expected to drop below 200 million this financial year. The market itself is shrinking in a vicious circle of service cuts, fare rises faster than competing modes, longer journey times;Media b(i)ased Social pressures, and other localised factors such as the utterly stupid change in school hours in recent decades - which based on a Granada Reports item last night is a major factor in Poverty for *Working* Parents, as well as a triple blow to the bus industry and its customers (expensive scheduling; extension of pm peak congestion and unattractive environment for law abiding adult passengers)
3. This all means that the market won't survive competition on the vast majority of routes. Further, history has told us that competition within the industry has been of lousy quality, and shown a distinct absence of innovation; no new routes, no improved service levels and only minimal fare reductions largely confined to specific sectors of society (ie. students, couples etc).

Supermarkets will always thrive as everybody has to eat and drink to survive - and indeed, it is the Retail industry that one of the bus industry's biggest enemies because it provides plentiful free parking.