Around nine in 10 bus passengers happy

27 March 2015

Bus passengers continue to report high levels of satisfaction, the watchdog has found.

In a survey of more than 47,000 passengers, around 9 in ten were satisfied (88 per cent across the English areas covered and 92 per cent in the four Scottish areas covered).

David Sidebottom, passenger director of the independent watchdog, said: “Passengers tell us that value for money is key to their satisfaction with a service, along with being able to get decent information and a friendly, helpful driver.

“When bus companies act on the findings in the survey it has a direct result for passengers. Just this week I’ve been to the Isle of Wight where the bus company listened to what passengers said from our research, and reinstated a route with new, bigger buses plus cutting some fares.

“First Bus in the West of England Partnership area scored 61 per cent for value for money – an increase from 33 per cent two years ago.  However nationally there is still room for improvement, with a wide range of value for money scores across the country. We call on operators to look at their colleagues with better scores to learn from them and make a difference to their passengers.”

The Bus Passenger Survey report, published today, gives a picture of satisfaction with bus travel that includes views on the bus stop, waiting for the bus, on the bus, the outside of the bus and the bus driver as well as overall satisfaction with that bus journey and value for money.

The watchdog surveyed passengers in autumn 2014, with responses from 38 areas in England and four areas in Scotland.

To download the full Bus Passenger Survey report, visit: local.transportfocus2.com and to explore the data further please visit http://data.transportfocus.org.uk/bus/.

 

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