Bus travel at JK

[Mrs H.]

OK - I've been on to this and these are the figures. To hire a 49 seater coach to take people from Lichfeild rugby club to Brown clee, Cannock chase and Hopwas (one bus each day each way) will cost the grand total of £620 (+ a possible fuel surchange if something drastic happens between now and then). Now I've already been told that this would have to cover its own costs which means charging £13 per head for the 3 days if the bus is full no reductions - but remember there is a £5 car parking charge for the 3 days if you drive anyway and then there is your petrol on top - Let me know whether anyone thinks this is at all reasonable before i take the matter any further - preferably before next week when there is a JK meeting

As a footnote - I referred to the transport as "a Bus" the guy said:"madam, we only deal in luxury coaches" - I wanted to reply "well haven't you got a cheaper banged up old bus because everyone on it will be covered in sweat and sheepshit" but instead replied "Oh I only said "bus" because we call it 'bussing', 'coaching' means something completely different to orienteers!"

[mharky]

so why dont you find a company that does do buses, and then the cost will come down???

[Mrs H.]

Because there doesn't seem to be one - this was the cheapest quote i got - mind you - if anyone's got any contacts in lichfield let me know - i live the other side of the midlands - I guess companies don't advertise their banged up old buses!

[Jene]

that works out pretty expensive for families really....i dont think it'd work....£52 just to bus to events?? well £65 if the whole family went

[samsonite]

surely its not really aimed at whole families though. surely it is aimed more at juniors who want to camp when their parents dont, and individuals who dont want the expense of running a car on their own with high car parking charges and long drives costing a fair bit of petrol. if u drive alone, it will be 15 quid just for car parking, plus however much petrol, but apparently thats going to be a reasonabe amount as i hear some of the drives are reasonably hefty.

i think its a great idea, but u already know that

[Mrs H.]

Yep - that's the way i see it - it's just a question of offering you the option. The reason why it's so expensive is because basically you have to hire the bus ( sorry coach) and driver for the whole day - I said well the more local routes they can go off and do something else - and he said that's not how it works - but i can ask again - that's why it's so much cheaper to catch the bus at - say - the o-ringen - beacuse the buses are working all day and the only extra cost is the fuel - the bus hire and the driver hire will be the same. The breakdown of charges is the Brown Clee day is £250 but it's not much cheaper on the local days £185 each- even to hopwas wich is very close and where the bus could easily go off and do something else (mind you its Easter monday and there might not be anything else to do so they've got to make it worthwhile for the driver to come in on a Bank holiday) and joking apart - I don't think it's the state of the vehicle which is going to affect the charge very much I would really like to be able to offer this option - but it's got to be realistic - i will ask the committee if there's anyway of subbing it - but i detect a softening on communal tent at the events front and there's a limit to how much even I can wangle - believe it or not

Can I just correct you there Samsonite £5 is for parking for all 3 days total - not each day mind you - it would be a good way to fill the bus

[graeme]

Costs a lot to hire drivers on bank holidays

Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a fleet of minibuses and make them free
for anyone willing to drive?

[Mrs H.]

Zoooooooom........the sound of Mrs H. getting on the case

[mharky]

minor issues asside though, i think its a good idea

[HOCOLITE]

Mrs H . Re Mini buses. Can they be hired from local schools? They may insist on teacher driver I don't know. Also there may be a community mini bus. There is in Ledbury, but it may again only be available for locals(maybe Gareth could help here or any other local residence in the know)

[SJ]

what about warwick uni mini-buses - they can't need that many over the easter holidays - might be an issue with drivers tho as they ask students to take a "test" before they're allowed to drive them

[Mrs H.]

SJ do you think WUOC would be interested in taking this on as a nice little earner? The committee don't want to make anything out of it (profit or loss) but could we franchise it out to you - can you think about and talk about it and come back to me (free camping for nominated drivers )

[SJ]

mrs h - I will ask around about it. There won't be a huge number of people able to drive because we need to be 21 and most of us are only 20. I'll get back to you...

[Mrs H.]

Do you know if the mini buses would be available if other people offered to drive

[chrisecurtis]

Minibuses might work but there are a couple of pitfalls.

The driving test stopped including qualification for minibuses (class D1 I think) some time ago. Most people under 25 are not qualified to drive them.

16-seaters can only be driven under the "community use" concession - there must be no element of "public hire" or profit. Usually school or Uni bus insurance follows that rule too and insists on an additional test (usually organised by the authority running them).

Who runs the public buses in Lichfield? - if it is a big company like Stagecoach they might be persuaded to run some additional services.