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Metro

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Metro

PostThu Mar 02, 2017 9:15 pm

West Yorkshire Metro combines bus and rail tickets in daily, weekly, monthly or annual passes.

https://ticketsandpasses.wymetro.com/ti ... metrocard/

Transport for Greater Manchester also sells off-peak travelcards covering bus, train and tram

http://www.metrolink.co.uk/tickets/Page ... cards.aspx
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solaris

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Re: Metro

PostThu Mar 02, 2017 9:26 pm

Yes it can be done - partially - and where commercial interests of bus cos overlap with rail. In both Manchester and Yorkshire there are PTEs able to "own" the problem with some executive capability - No PTEs in Wales. Does not always work though - the quality bus contract proposals in NE England ended up in the High Court..... We need in effect a "PTE" with adequate capability/resources and I still think a degree of "re-regulation"
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Metro

PostThu Mar 02, 2017 10:38 pm

Given that Cardiff buses and Newport buses are controlled by the local authorities, transferring these operations to a PTE should be straightforward. Stagecoach are the other main operator in the proposed Metro area so their services will have to be re-regulated.
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Kyle

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 8:32 am

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RandomComment

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 1:02 pm

Good news in a way. However, it really is just development by government dictat. Its not a company making a market-based decision that "great, Ponty is now a better place to do business". Instead, its the WG deciding to locate some civil servants in an office development that otherwise probably wouldn't get off the ground - which would have been a further setback to the third largest UA in Wales's efforts to regenerate a site that has been subject to failed proposal after proposal back to the late 1980s. And, in addition, mandating the location of the HQ of the private operator for the "metro franchise" (is this the same as the Wales and Borders franchise?)... which is not necessarily a good thing from a VfM or effectiveness perspective. Isn't it better to let the franchisee decide where to locate its HQ (perhaps mandating it is within Wales) based on its own trade-offs of staff availability and amenity, access for visitors/suppliers, office rental costs, etc?

Perhaps a few hunded town-centre office jobs will support a couple of cafes. Perhaps it will spur some genuine private sector occupation (e.g. a call centre?). On its own though, it could actually be seen as a sign of the continued weakness of the economy in Pontypridd.

Jantra

Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 3:02 pm

Whatever it is I think it's a good deal for ponty. Sometimes we just have to accept market intervention by the state - they are after all as much a part of the economy as the private sector.

I also don't see the location as being a problem. In the larger urban areas where such a PTE exists the civil servants/private sector managers will all commute to their place of work. Commuting to ponty isn't going to be a problem - and if it is - then it becomes an incentive to get the metro functioning sooner rather than later.
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solaris

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 3:08 pm

Jantra wrote:Whatever it is I think it's a good deal for ponty. Sometimes we just have to accept market intervention by the state - they are after all as much a part of the economy as the private sector.

I also don't see the location as being a problem. In the larger urban areas where such a PTE exists the civil servants/private sector managers will all commute to their place of work. Commuting to ponty isn't going to be a problem - and if it is - then it becomes an incentive to get the metro functioning sooner rather than later.


Couldn't agree more....
Ponty only ~25 mins from Cardiff Central and could be less with more services once Metro delivered... that's a lot more convenient than Cardiff Gate Business Park for example.
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Ben In London

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 3:17 pm

solaris wrote:
Jantra wrote:Whatever it is I think it's a good deal for ponty. Sometimes we just have to accept market intervention by the state - they are after all as much a part of the economy as the private sector.

I also don't see the location as being a problem. In the larger urban areas where such a PTE exists the civil servants/private sector managers will all commute to their place of work. Commuting to ponty isn't going to be a problem - and if it is - then it becomes an incentive to get the metro functioning sooner rather than later.


Couldn't agree more....
Ponty only ~25 mins from Cardiff Central and could be less with more services once Metro delivered... that's a lot more convenient than Cardiff Gate Business Park for example.


I think it helps people have confidence in the service knowing it's in a location where the Metro will be vital.
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RandomComment

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 3:54 pm

solaris wrote:
Jantra wrote:Whatever it is I think it's a good deal for ponty. Sometimes we just have to accept market intervention by the state - they are after all as much a part of the economy as the private sector.

I also don't see the location as being a problem. In the larger urban areas where such a PTE exists the civil servants/private sector managers will all commute to their place of work. Commuting to ponty isn't going to be a problem - and if it is - then it becomes an incentive to get the metro functioning sooner rather than later.


Couldn't agree more....
Ponty only ~25 mins from Cardiff Central and could be less with more services once Metro delivered... that's a lot more convenient than Cardiff Gate Business Park for example.


It might very well be more convenient that Cardiff Gate. But maybe not than Cardiff City Centre?

The point I was making is that while the jobs and investment is clearly good news for Ponty, all else equal:
a) Things might not be "all else equal". Maybe they were struggling to get any other occupier to take up space in this flagship scheme for (Labour-run) RCT?
b) Actually mandating where a (potentially) private sector partner bases its HQ - a specific development in a specific town - is actually a pretty big change from recent policy. And one that might have some costs. If Ponty is genuinely going to be a more convenient option, wouldn't they locate there anyway? The incentive argument is interesting - but its a pretty modest incentive as I'm going to go out on a limb and say the vast majority of people will drive to work in Ponty (yes, Ponty has train and bus links, but not great ones if you want to get from, e.g., Bedwas, or Tonyrefail, or Ystrad Mynach, or Ely, or Cyncoed).
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Mr Blue Sky

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Re: Metro

PostMon Mar 20, 2017 6:25 pm

RandomComment wrote:
solaris wrote:
Jantra wrote:Whatever it is I think it's a good deal for ponty. Sometimes we just have to accept market intervention by the state - they are after all as much a part of the economy as the private sector.

I also don't see the location as being a problem. In the larger urban areas where such a PTE exists the civil servants/private sector managers will all commute to their place of work. Commuting to ponty isn't going to be a problem - and if it is - then it becomes an incentive to get the metro functioning sooner rather than later.


Couldn't agree more....
Ponty only ~25 mins from Cardiff Central and could be less with more services once Metro delivered... that's a lot more convenient than Cardiff Gate Business Park for example.


It might very well be more convenient that Cardiff Gate. But maybe not than Cardiff City Centre?

The point I was making is that while the jobs and investment is clearly good news for Ponty, all else equal:
a) Things might not be "all else equal". Maybe they were struggling to get any other occupier to take up space in this flagship scheme for (Labour-run) RCT?
b) Actually mandating where a (potentially) private sector partner bases its HQ - a specific development in a specific town - is actually a pretty big change from recent policy. And one that might have some costs. If Ponty is genuinely going to be a more convenient option, wouldn't they locate there anyway? The incentive argument is interesting - but its a pretty modest incentive as I'm going to go out on a limb and say the vast majority of people will drive to work in Ponty (yes, Ponty has train and bus links, but not great ones if you want to get from, e.g., Bedwas, or Tonyrefail, or Ystrad Mynach, or Ely, or Cyncoed).


Nowhere has great train connections to Ely, Cyncoed, Bedwas or Tonyrefail as there are no stations in those communities. I think that this is great for Ponty and the Valleys in general. No matter what you say, Pontypridd has very good train connections. Given that it is on the edge of the Cardiff urban area, on tbe A470 and close to the M4, and also in the Cardiff city region I really don't see that there is anything to complain about.

Looking at a map i can see that Ponty town centre is as close to the M4 as is Cardiff city centre.

These decisions to site public sector jobs in the lower Valleys may have been made with one eye on the upcoming elections but they are to be commended. Each time i visit Aberystwyth and see the National Library it fills with me with pride. We should be placing more institutions in Swansea too, it is ridiculous that Cardiff is the focus when it is hardly central in terms of Wales' population or geography.

I find it odd that you, as a Ponty native, are voicing doubts about this. I know a few people from the town (including my chiropracter) and they all want these kind of boosts to Pontypridd. You may be about to trot out your spiel about agglomeration effects and if so, so be it. But all Welsh people should want the valleys to thrive as they are home to a third of our population and represent the heart of English-speaking Wales.
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