Gimme shelter

10 September 2012

The  major changes to bus services in central Birmingham, done to accommodate the tram reaching ‘new’ New Street station, seem to have started well. While there is still quite a lot of road digging and shelter changing to do, the flood of staff and information on D-day seemed to keep complaints and comment to a minimum. However, the real tests will come when the kids are all back and Christmas travel really picks up. As with the Olympics the presence of staff in numbers is the key.
One gripe is, however, much in evidence. The new bus shelters are okay for sunny weather, but don’t seem to have much space when it’s raining. See the picture below of David Sidebottom, Passenger Focus director and Linda McCord, Passenger Focus manager.

Not everyone is comfortable on angled perch seats either. Looks like there may need to take a fresh look at this. Yes, some people don’t like enclosed shelters and seem to avoid them, but there has to be adequate cover. Interesting to see what our Bus Passenger Survey picks up this autumn. Let’s hope the improved scores from the new buses in spring are not wiped out by the shelter effect.