Yellow Buses

Yellow Buses (YB) is a bus operator based in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, owned by the RATP Group, a company owned by the government of France. Although most routes are restricted to the Bournemouth local authority area, an increasing number are expanding into the adjacent areas of Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset. Some routes are in direct competition with another local operator, Wilts & Dorset.

The company was formerly owned and operated by Bournemouth Borough Council and was known as Yellow Buses Bournemouth, and prior to that "Bournemouth Transport Ltd". The name was changed to Transdev Yellow Buses (TYB) when Transdev bought the company in December 2005. On 2 July 2006, Transdev Yellow Buses redesigned its entire network. It concentrated on core, higher frequency services, with a corresponding colour coded map, aimed at making the network easier for the public. In parallel, Transdev simplified its fare structure and introduced a new livery. This remains largely yellow (a condition of the sale), albeit in a lighter shade of primrose rather than the more mustard of old; "The Brighter Bus Company" became the new strap line. Transdev's new network also provides a number of lower-frequency, non-core routes. Further changes have followed, with the fare prices being altered, along with extension of routes and new routes being introduced.

The company is arguably one of the most successful bus operators in England with a patronage growth of 40% since 2005 and currently carrying 13 million passengers per annum.

In May 2010 an agreement was signed for the transfer of Yellow Buses (and also London United) to the RATP Group, a Transdev shareholder. On Thursday 3 March 2011, both companies became part of the RATP Group.

Origins
Yellow Buses traces its origins to 1902, when Bournemouth Corporation began to operate trams. Bus services were started in 1906 to act as feeders to the tram system. In 1930 more bus services were started away from the tram system, to serve Kinson and Holdenhurst when those areas were added to the borough of Bournemouth.

In 1933 the corporation began to operate trolleybuses, and by 1936 replaced all the trams with trolleybuses. The trolleybuses were replaced by diesel buses between 1963 and 1959.

Bournemouth Transport Ltd
With the passing of the Transport Act 1985 and subsequent deregulation and privatisation of bus services, Bournemouth Transport Ltd, using the trading name Yellow Buses Bournemouth, became an arms-length commercial company, wholly owned by Bournemouth Borough Council. In spite of the sale of other municipal operators, the Conservative-controlled council decided to hold on to its operator for the time being. Following a change of council control to the Liberal Democrats, council financial pressures in the years to 2005, a perceived need to modernise the fleet and a realisation that full privatisation would better equip the operator to overcome the increasing competition it was facing from Wilts & Dorset, the council offered the company for sale.

Transdev
The sale process was a difficult one but, after over 100 years of municipal operation, Bournemouth Borough Council sold Yellow Buses in December 2005 to Transdev. The Council retained 10 per cent of the shareholding and a member on the Transdev Yellow Buses board.

Transdev then decided to make its mark on Yellow Buses by giving the entire network a complete overhaul. This became the Big Network Change of 2 July 2006, where each bus, each journey, and each route (even route numbers) was changed. To make sure that the public were made aware of these changes, Transdev Yellow Buses held road shows across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch to publicise its new network, livery, branding and new fare structure. Since then, Transdev have made slight changes to the network with funding from Bournemouth Borough Council, including the introduction of routes 37 and 38, the extension of Route 41 at both ends to Boscombe Pier and to Throop Church, and the re-introduction of Route 24 to Bournemouth and to bring back the route in the evenings and on Sundays between the Rail Station and Alum Chine. Also, for the first time in recent years, Transdev Yellow Buses decided not to run services on New Year's Day 2007 except route 747, which ran a normal Monday service.

A revised timetable was introduced on Sunday 22 July 2007 and Monday 29 October 2007 saw TYB take over the operation of Routes 18 and 19 from Wilts & Dorset, combining them to make new route 18 between Broadstone and Bournemouth. Unlike the old Wilts & Dorset route, there is no service between Broadstone and Corfe Mullen, and no Sunday or evening buses.

Transdev Yellow Buses invested in a Real Time & Next Stop display system. Screens were put in most of the low-floor fleet and the system was in operation from end of April 2008.

In May 2008, new route 39 was started, with the help of Bournemouth Borough Council, when a timetable change saw Littledown/Harewood Estates with no service. This is an hourly service running between Bournemouth Hospital and Bournemouth via Boscombe.

Another revision to the timetable took place on 3 May 2009, with various improvements on routes 1 and 3 and many timing changes. Sunday 24 May saw the start of a brand new hourly Route 21 service, taking over from the Wilts & Dorset Route X12 Bournemouth to Burton service and part of the C1 (the other part along with the C2 being run by Shamrock Buses).

27 September 2009 saw the start of a new winter timetable with changes to routes 1, 6, and 25, and the merging of Routes 37 and 38 to make new route 36.

April 2010 saw TYB expand services into East Dorset with the launch of an hourly Route 29 between Bournemouth, Winton, Ferndown and West Moors.

May 2010 saw that start of three new services being the 20, 27 (both on May 4) and 40 (May 29). Route 20, which was a merge of routes 53 (operated by Wilts & Dorset) and 42 (operated by Shamrock Buses) ran between Poole and Castlepoint via Lilliput, Penn Hill, Square (Bourne Avenue), Winton and West Way. Route 27 ran between Kinson and Poole via Bear Wood and Alderney and was a commercial replacement for Wilts & Dorset's Route 11 (although W&D will still be running the service as normal on Sundays and will run a services between Poole and Bear Wood on Mondays to Fridays). Route 27 ran hourly Monday to Saturday. Route 40 ran between Christchurch Civic Offices and Bournemouth Square/Pier. This was a partial replacement to the old Route 12 service, although it was run with single-deck buses and not Open Top Double Deckers. It ran via Tuckton Bridge, Hengistbury Head and Boscombe Pier.

RATP
On 3 March 2011 Yellow Buses changed hands officially, from Transdev to the RATP Group.

May 15, 2011 saw a few changes made to routes 1, 3 & 5, either in frequency or timing. June 26th, 2011 saw see the start of the new summer timetable with changes to most routes including the withdrawal of routes 24, 29 & 49. Routes 24 was replaced with revised routes 2a, 2b and 20, and route 29 was renumbered 4c, with timeing changes. July 6, 2011 saw Shamrock Buses go bust which meant that Yellow Buses started operation of the 111 on July 7th rather than the original planned date of July 25th and have also taken on a handful of School Routes. September 5th saw further changes with YB operating more school services as well as Routes 31 & 41 gained from Wilts & Dorset. October 23rd will see a new route starting, the 4d between Bournemouth and Wimborne (replacing the hourly 4a journey that operates between Bournemouth and Northbourne Roundabout), and a change of route for the 1b between Poole and Upper Parkstone. The 1b will operate via Poole College & Ashley Cross and the 1c will remain unchanged in its route.

Awards


Over recent years, Bournemouth Transport/ Yellow Buses, its management and staff have picked up a few awards.


 * Winner - "Highest Placed Competitor from a Municipal Company, 2004" (Anthony Stakounis) - Bus Driver of the Year Awards
 * Winner - "Optare Shire Operator of the Year, 2009" - UK Bus Awards
 * Highly Commended - "Alexander Dennis Innovation Award, 2009" (Carbon Stoppers) - UK Bus Awards
 * Runner Up - "Young Manager of the Year, 2009" (Ed Wills) - UK Bus Awards
 * Winner - "Large Bus Operator (101+ vehicles) of the Year, 2010" - RouteOne Operator Excellence Awards 2010
 * Winner - "Bus Driver of the Year, 2010" (Mark Dean) - Bus Driver of the Year Awards
 * Winner - "Company Award, 2010" - Bus Driver of the Year Awards
 * Winner - "Best Competitor from a depot in England, 2010" - Bus Driver of the Year Awards
 * Winner - "Shire Operator of the Year, 2010" - UK Bus Awards
 * Joint "Runners Up" with Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company - "UK Bus Operator of the Year, 2010" - UK Bus Awards

Routes
Yellow Buses has seen many changes over the years, particularly to do with route numbers. Please see the above page for all previous routes, current and future information.

Fleet
Yellow Buses has a mixture of different vehicle types. Since Transdev acquired the company, most of the fleet has been renewed and is now almost entirely low-floor.

1980s
In the 1980s the fleet mainly consisted of Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines (most of which had unusual Alexander AL type bodies as opposed to the AD type) and Leyland Atlanteans. 20 Leyland Olympians with Marshall bodies (the only ones of their kind) were also owned, as were a small number of Ford Transit minibuses. Some of the Daimler/Leyland Fleetlines were convertible open-top buses for what was once an extensive summer service.

Five Volvo Citybuses, five with East Lancs coach-style bodywork were purchased in 1986 (fleet numbers 200 to 204 inclusive). They spent much of their time in what was then the coaching division of the Yellows..."Yellow Coaches of Bournemouth". They eventually made their way to the Yellow Buses fleet and into regular service. Ten Volvo Citybuses with Alexander RV-type bodies were bought, five in 1988 (fleet numbers 205 to 209 inclusive) and a further five in 1989 (210 to 214 inclusive).

1990s


18 Dennis Dominators with East Lancs E-type bodies (built to Alexander R-type design) were purchased, and have turbo-charged Gardner 6LXCT engines: seven in 1990 (fleet numbers 251 to 257 inclusive), seven in 1991 (fleet numbers 258, 259 and 261 to 265 inclusive) and four in 1992 (fleet numbers 266 to 269 inclusive). Six East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances were bought in 1993 (fleet numbers 401 to 406 inclusive).

In 1995/6, a large batch of Dennis Darts with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork were purchased, and are worth noting as the bodies are wider than usual Darts (regardless of bodywork): 12 in 1995 (fleet numbers 451 to 462 inclusive) and 10 in 1996 (fleet numbers 463 to 472 inclusive). In the 1995 batch, fleet numbers 451, 452, 453 and 454 were originally in Super Route 17 livery, complete with Real Time equipment.

In 1997/8, delivery of Dennis Dart SLFs with East Lancs Spryte bodywork: two in 1997 (fleet numbers 473 and 474) and eight in 1998 (fleet numbers 475 to 482 inclusive). The 1998 batch were originally in "Super Route 6" livery. In 1999 Yellow Buses took delivery of its first new double decks since 1992, being nine East Lancs Lolyne-bodied Dennis Tridents (fleet numbers 270 to 278 inclusive).

2000s


Eight East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TLs arrived in 2000 (fleet numbers 411 to 418 inclusive). 2002 saw another eight East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TLs being added to the fleet, three of them (430, 431 and 432) are convertible to open top format.

Yellow Buses took delivery six Volvo B7TLs in 2003, the bodywork of which were split equally between East Lancs Vyking (fleet numbers 426 to 428 inclusive) and Wright Eclipse Gemini (fleet numbers 180 to 182 inclusive). Again, this year also saw another one of the original 18 Dennis Dominator/East Lancs E Types taken out of service. The company withdrew all six East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances. The Leyland Fleetlines in the fleet were sold to Thamesdown between 2003 and 2006.

The only deliveries in 2004 were a further six further Volvo B7TLs, yet again equally split between East Lancs, this time with East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodywork (fleet numbers 110 to 112 inclusive), and Wright Eclipse Gemini (fleet numbers 183 to 185 inclusive). A further three East Lancs Myllennium Vyking Volvo B7TLs arrived in 2005 (fleet numbers 113 to 115 inclusive), plus four VDL SB120/Wright Merits (fleet numbers 500 to 503), the latter in a revised livery (before the sale to Transdev) of yellow and white relieved with two blue upward sweeping bands to the rear.

In 2006, under Transdev ownership, a selection of 21 second-hand single decks arrived, all of which were low-floor Dennis Darts on either Plaxton Pointer (three buses, fleet numbers 491 to 493 inclusive), East Lancs Spryte (ten buses, fleet numbers 483 to 490 inclusive, along with 494 and 495) or Wright Crusader bodies (eight buses, fleet numbers 150 to 157 inclusive), all in the new Transdev Yellow Buses livery. The remaining East Lancs coach-style Volvo Citybuses were withdrawn for sale.

In 2007 the company commenced repainting the remainder of the Volvo Citybuses, but this has now stopped since the company is looking into purchasing some double deckers. By the end of October, fleet numbers 205 and 206 had been sold.

The driver training fleet has also been changed. The company withdrew the last two East Lancs EL2000-bodied Dennis Lances (fleet numbers 402 and 406). In their place, the 1997 batch of Dennis Dart SLFs with East Lancs Spryte bodywork (fleet numbers 473 and 474) have been painted up in special yellow and purple driver training livery.

10 reasonably new buses arrived, all being 55-plate Alexander Dennis Dart Pointers, fleet numbers 504 to 513 inclusive. These came from Manchester Airport, and because Yellow Buses were due to stop running the Airport service in November, the buses had their luggage racks removed. To this end, a large part of the 1995 batch of Dennis Darts with East Lancs EL2000 bodywork (fleet numbers 451 to 459) were withdrawn and put up for sale by Ensignbus. Two were sold to Brighton-based independent The Big Lemon. In November 2007, an ex-demonstrator Alexander Dennis Enviro400 with an '07 plate arrived. Its fleet number is 186.

A single deck Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart (with a 57 registration) went into service in mid-January 2008, numbered 515. In September 2008, 11 brand new Optare Versas arrived at the depot. These have registrations to match their fleet numbers in the Txx TYB range (18 to 28 inclusive) and entered service on Route 1a (Bournemouth-Somerford) on 1 October 2008. In November, an order was announced for 11 Optare Tempos to follow on from the Versa order.

Towards the end of the year, Dennis Dart East Lancs EL2000s 460 to 463 were withdrawn and put up for sale with Ensign Bus; one has since joined The Big Lemon in Brighton.

Your Bus was also launched during September 2008 by TYB, to run the school specials they have contracts for, and currently there are 3 Volvo Citybuses (208, 211, 213) and one Dennis Dart East Lancs EL2000 (being 465) in the TYB "Your Bus" Livery. This fleet was expanded in September 2009 with the introduction of the Bournemouth & Poole College School Contract with extra Darts and an extra Volvo Citybus added to the fleet.

During the early part of 2009, Wright Crusader 156 was withdrawn for spares, and replacement bus 514, a 51 plate DAF SB120/Wright Cadet, entered service towards the end of June 2009. Its number plate is YJ51 ELX.

Eleven Optare Tempos entered service during May 2009. They, like the Optare Versas, have registrations to match their fleet numbers in the Rxx TYB range (7 to 17 inclusive)

2010s
The early part of 2010 saw the withdrawal of the remaining Volvo Citybuses that are not currently in the Your Bus section of TYB.

Spring 2010 has seen the refurbishment of the Trident Lolynes (270 - 278 inclusive) with 270 first back from the refurbishment. Notable differences are the addition of a wheelchair ramp and area, more stop buttons on both decks, flooring to the same specification as the Optare single-deckers already in the fleet, new seating with different arrangements both on the lower and especially the upper deck where the seats are now spaced further apart, increasing leg-room, slightly reducing capacity, and improving CCTV.

June 2010 has seen the introduction of seven new Optare Tempos, fleet numbers 101 to 107 inclusive.

Spring 2011 saw the continuation of the refurbishment of the fleet with the East Lancs Myllennium Vykings (fleet numbers 110 to 115 inclusive) and the Wright Eclipse Geminis (fleet numbers 180 to 185 inclusive) receiving new flooring, seating and improved CCTV. 5 new Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2s arrived in May 2011. .

Summer 2011 saw the remaining Step Entrance Darts in the Your Bus fleet leave the fleet (N465 TPR is now with Gardbus & N466 TPR with Thompsons Tours) leaving only the Citybuses in the Your Bus fleet which will be covering the St Peter's School contracts from September 2011. Also, YB have acquired from sister company, London United, 4 ALX400 buses converted from dual door to single door format, 3 of which are Dennis Tridents (X201 to 203 UMS, fleet numbers 281 to 283 inclusive) and the other being a Volvo B7TL (V189 OOE, fleet number 284). YB have also acquired 5 Optare Solo's. 2 of which are from Door to Dorset, (Optare Solo's CE52 UWU fleet number 750 & CE52 UWR fleet number 751). The remaining 3 Optare Solo's origins are unknown.

Autumn 2011 saw 2 Alexander Dennis Enviro300 single deckers arrive in the depot these are believed to have originated from South Yorkshire.

Bournemouth Town Centre re-routing
In September 2002, Yellow Buses decided to use Old Christchurch Road for most outbound journeys, but use Bath Road for inbound journeys. Buses in both directions in the evenings and on Sundays, however, used Bath Road. The poster to the right illustrates the changes. Services unaffected by this re-routing were 22 and 69, which used Hinton Road and Bath Road all day, every day.

Some years later, Yellow Buses decided to change some town centre routing further. This managed to confuse some of its drivers. It included buses towards Lansdowne operating via Old Christchurch Road each day (except for routes 22 and 69, as above), including Sundays, and then all buses towards Lansdowne using Hinton Road and Bath Road after 6.00 pm.

During both these periods, outbound Charminster Road Buses (31/32/35) avoided Old Christchurch Road on evenings and Sundays by using the Bourne Avenue side of The Square.

This was changed slightly again when Transdev carried out their Big Network Change of July 2006, so that all buses towards Lansdowne before 6.00 pm operated via Old Christchurch Road. From 22 July 2007, all buses towards Lansdowne before 8.00 pm now operate via Old Christchurch Road.

The end of September 2009 saw a minor change to the town centre re-routing with all Route 6 buses running via Hinton Road and Bath Road instead of Old Christchurch Road all day.