Ralph Roberts

Chairman of McGill’s Bus Group

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@MarieMacklin @paulhutcheon Good on you 👍

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

You have to wonder how this could have gone so wrong. £500m for bus priority to bring faster bus journeys and cheaper fares to millions…except, 5 years later it was withdrawn as not enough had been spent by Councils.

[MiX by Powerfleet @MiXTelematics]

Bus priority in Scotland to get more than £500m boost https://t.co/rpgGppqXtY @routeonetim via @routeoneteam #UK

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@KaindeManji @ScottishLabour Here they are…..

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@braes_andy @KaindeManji @ScottishLabour When you are ignorant, you think everyone is the same. What could possibly go wrong

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@learig331 @KaindeManji @ScottishLabour There already is one!

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@cllrcameron @KaindeManji @ScottishLabour Meanwhile, the bus company is in the process of buying new buses for the bus route serving that bus stop 🚏

🚎 = Political ⚽️

🪄 💰 🌲

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@KaindeManji @ScottishLabour A bit out of touch this one. Not saying things can’t get better but clearly has no idea I’m negotiating a £2.5m order for new electric buses for the X10. Some of which would be based in the BALFRON BUS DEPOT.

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Two years have changed nothing. @SPTcorporate want more control over buses but they and their councils already have control of roads. Spending another £400m of taxpayers money every year won’t change this

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Spot the bus at the back of this huge queue of cars & vans. Dual carriageway down to one lane because of parking. This is what you get with #PublicControl

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Check out Bristol Port's video! #TikTok https://t.co/4bQlEtSOJ6

GB government buying their new locomotives built in Spain

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@DonaldCMacleod Congratulations Donald!

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@PaulJSweeney Here you go bending the truth again Paul. The recent UK wide bus users survey put Glasgow best in Scotland. So good it would be 8th best in England. Where is your precious Manchester? 36th!! 4th from bottom. It will take years for Manchester to be as good as Glasgow

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@GoldilocksOrbit @Rainmaker1973 It’s called lift

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

These are about 200kg heavier than a V8 petrol Landcruiser Amazon. Engineering cars to suit bad legislation is never good. The roads are not built to take this weight, they are designed for 1200kg cars and fewer of them hence the rapid decline in roads. Whole situation needs a hard reset. The car: no doubt it will be clever and engaging

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

@SamRemfry That does form part of it but not due to negligence. The main issues are data, communication, planning, pecking order, regulatory powers and lead times plus much much more.

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Was in this big house last night discussing how to alleviate the issues around getting charging infrastructure to bus depots and charging EV buses. It turns out that the issues bus companies face is a microcosm of the wider economy and the fact that we are transitioning so quickly.

More conversations to be had to arrive at solutions but the journey has started.

Who knew that Bannockburn and Hounslow had the same problems!

Thanks to @ZenobeEnergy and #LordDeben for hosting the round table.

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

I was standing outside my hotel this morning watching cyclists zoom south down the cycle lane easily exceeding 20mph between pavement and bus stop at City Hall at Westminster Bridge. Terribly dangerous and glad that I still have one good eye to see them coming. If it wasn’t a terrible pun I’d say it was awfully short sighted of authorities to selfishly persist with this type of infrastructure. As it stands, someone is going to have to be badly hurt before anyone does anything about it.

*Friendly reminder: pedestrians are above cyclists in the active travel pecking order!!

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Much cheaper to make the mode you are trying to improve more sustainable and influence filling the gaps you perceive to be there. Subsidy has its place but just look at rail, it is locked into massive levels of subsidy with Bi££ions going out the system in profit to contractors. Franchising like Manchester is a huge mistake but that in itself isn't my beef.

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Libraries and buses under threat as chancellor warned over £54bn council black hole

Millions of people will suffer as a result of this and I do wonder when activists will understand that public authorities are not immune to budget cuts. The reality is, and always has been, that private bus companies cut services less than public authorities.

Work with us to influence what goes on and you will find that bus networks are cheaper to implement, more sustainable and less likely to fall under the Chancellor's axe. #franchising #businessconfiscation
https://t.co/rXHcKdxTbs

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

Your friendly reminder that all McGill’s Group buses have no peak fares! Every fare is off-peak

[Cllr Iain Gall @GallIain]

I sometimes forget how lucky I am that I live on site and have no travel costs. The cost to travel on trains in Scotland is staggering especially when the service has been unreliable with cancellations rife.👇🏻will push more back into cars. Another @theSNP failure 😞

[Ralph Roberts @NoConceptOfTime]

This is why McGill’s is resisting franchising. Not because we have anything against franchising as a method of planning and coordinating public transport, but because of the unjust WAY it is being done. Do it fairly or not at all.

[William Connolly @WC2512]

There we go, the death of small operators in Greater Manchester.

Stotts, Nexus, and Belle Vue all forced off their service and school work. In the case of Stotts and Nexus, their entire business, gone 😓
What happened to the small contracts designed for SMEs, @AndyBurnhamGM?