Greater Manchester

Punctuality & Reliability Statistics March 2009

We seek to operate our local bus services to the standards set by the Traffic Commissioners who are responsible for the regulation of bus and coach services in the United Kingdom.

The required standards are 95% punctuality where a vehicle can be no more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late at any terminus point. The reliability target is set at 99% of the timetabled scheduled mileage. Against those targets our performance was:

In the month of March we operated 99% of our scheduled mileage, 97% of our journeys that were monitored as low frequency, started on time.
The performance of First in Manchester was as follows:

Overall Performance for March was 89%

Overview of significant delays and disruptions for the whole area.

Roadworks

 Oldham Road/Manchester Road, Oldham. Delays up to 40 minutes.
 A666 Bolton Road, Kearsley. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Manchester Road/Oldham Road, Hollinwood. Delays up to 25 minutes.
 Lovers Lane, Grasscroft. Delays up to 5 minutes.
 Station Road, Swinton. Diversion in place, delays up to 15 minutes.
 Chepstow Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 15 minutes.
 Middleton Road/Victoria Avenue, Heaton Park. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Portland Street, Manchester. Delays up to 5 minutes.
 Bolton Road, Irlams Oth Heights. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Crescent Road/Green Lane, Bolton. Delays up to 15 minutes.
 Church Street/Tyldesley Road, Atherton. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Chapel Street/Trinity Way, Manchester. Diversion in place (Inbound), delays up to 10 minutes.
 Ashton Road, Hathershaw. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Poolstock Lane, Wigan. Delays up to 15 minutes.
 Nelson Street, Bolton. Delays up to 5 minutes.
 Warrington Road, Marus Bridge. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 St Helens Road/Hulton Lane, Bolton. Delays up to 5 minutes.
 Foxdenton Lane, Middleton. Diversion in place, delays up to 30 minutes.

There have been a significant number of road traffic accidents (RTA) through January, in which we were not involved, that have affected the punctuality and in some cases the reliability of our services. A snap shot of these are:

Collisions / RTAs:

 Middleton Road/Heywood Old Road, Rhodes. Delays up to30 minutes.
 Oldham Road/Broad Lane, Diversion in place, delays up to 15 minutes.
 M602, junction 2 Eccles. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Rochdale Road/Queens Road, Manchester. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 Oldham Road, Manchester. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 Liverpool Road/Patricroft Bridge, Eccles. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Atherton Road, Hindley. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Bolton Road, Holcombe Brook. Diversion in place, delays up to 30 minutes.
 Delaunays Road, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 10 minutes.
 Chamber Road/Ashton Road, Oldham. Diversion in place, no delays.
 Manchester Road, Kearsley. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 M62 westbound, between junctions 19 and 20. Severe delays in surrounding areas up to 90 minutes.
 Seven Stars Bridge, Wallgate Wigan. Diversion in place, delays up to 30 minutes.
 Bolton Road, Irlams Oth Heights. Diversion in place, delays up to 15 minutes.

High volumes of traffic can have a major affect on our bus services, however this can vary on a daily basis, this then makes it difficult to schedule our service to meet the traffic conditions.

Additional Delays

 Traffic congestion due to broken down HGV: Eccles Old Road, Eccles. Delays up to 15 minutes.
 Traffic congestion due to roadworks: Bolton Road, Irlams Oth Heights. Diversion in place, delays up to 30 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Middleton Road, Chadderton. Delays up to 25 minutes.
 Traffic congestion due to football match: Warrington Road, Wigan. Delays up to 20 minutes
 Traffic congestion: Trafford centre. Delays up to 60 minutes.
 Traffic congestion due to football match: Manchester city centre. Delays up to 30 minutes
 Traffic congestion due to football match: Chorley New Road/De Havilland Way, Horwich. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Deansgate/Blackfriars Bridge Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 10 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: A666 Bolton Road, Farnworth. Delays up to 45 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Rochdale Road/Shudehill, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 10 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Manchester Road, Hollinwood. Delays up to 25 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Manchester city centre. Delays up to 45 minutes.
 Traffic congestion due to football match: Alan Turing Way, Manchester. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Traffic congestion: Leigh Road/Worsley Brow, Worsley. AM/PM peak.
 Traffic congestion: Liverpool Road, Barton. AM peak.

In addition there have also been some unexpected factors that caused severe operational problems, over which we have no control, including:

 Bollards stuck: St Marys Gate, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Traffic signals out of order: Lane Head/ East Lancs Road, Lowton. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Vandalism: Broken windows. White Moss estate. Diversion in place,
 St Helens Road, Bolton. Diversion in place, delays up to 10 minutes.
 Temporary signals out of order: Chapel Road/Manchester Road, Oldham. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Road closed due to football match: Market Street, Bury. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Traffic congestion due to broken down HGV: Eccles Old Road, Eccles. Delays up to 15 minutes.
 Parade: Cross Street, Manchester. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 St Helens Road/Hulton Lane, Bolton. Delays up to 5 minutes.
 Road closed due to Police incident: Oldham Road/Grimshaw Lane, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 60 minutes.
 Vandalism: Dam Head estate, Blackley. Services withdrawn from estate for the evening.
 Parade: Cheetham Hill Road in to Manchester City centre. Diversion in place, delays up to 15 minutes.
 Parade: Church Street/High Street, Golborne. Delays up to 10 minutes.
 Road blocked by badly parked vehicles: Calderbrook Road, Stansfield. Diversion in place, no delays reported.
 Parade: Scot Lane, Wigan. Delays up to 20 minutes.
 Road blocked by broken down vehicle: Alt estate, Oldham. Diversion in place, no delays.
 Road blocked by badly parked vehicles: Dobcross village. No delays.
 Road blocked by vehicle fire: Bury Old Road/Cuckoo Lane, Prestwich. Delays up to 15 minutes.
 Temporary signals: Bell Lane, Bury. Delays up to 30 minutes.
 Road closed for 60 minutes: Blackfriars Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Bollards stuck: Corporation Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Road blocked: Blackfriars Bridge Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, delays up to 5 minutes.
 Road blocked due to fire: Liverpool Road/Warburton Bridge Road, Warrington. Service curtailed at Hollins Green.
 Rochdale Bus Station closed: Services diverted. No delays.
 Road closed: St Marys Gate/Cross Street, Manchester. Diversion in place, no delays.

Taking in to account all the above operating issues, we are committed to continuously monitor and review our services, to improve punctuality and reliability for our customers.