bus company complaint

boniespook_2

hi

our local bus company keeps 'tweaking' the timetable and has now taken off two busses going into the industrial estate my husband works. He now can't get to work in time to start at 7am without walking 3/4 hour through dark street and crossing some very busy roads (OK for him but I would be scared to walk that route myself).

We've had enough and want to complain about this, buy no idea where to start, does anyone have any suggestions? We've been to previous 'consultation' meetings with the company but it never makes a difference :mad:

Tracey

King_Nothing

Doubt there's much you can do, if they don't want to run that service anymore it's entirely upto them, likely candidate is they weren't making enough money from it, so have redirected the buses to more profitiable routes.

photome

Bus companys are a commercial operation unlike in the past when a lot were council run and subsidised.

So if that route at that time doesnt make any money it doesnt run, so I doubt you will get very far complaining.

If a car is out of the qustion how about a moped or a push bike

p00hsticks

I would have thought your best chance is for your husband to try to get his employer to take it up with the bus company - presumably he is not the only employee affected ? It may also be affecting other companies on the park. In some cases industrial and business parks will subsidise public transport at particualr times to ensure that their employees can get to work on time.

boniespook_2

thanks for the replies - it is definitely cost saving exercise as the first bus used to come from town rather than the full route so they will save on bus and driver costs - but its always confused us as they are busy busses - often brian struggles to get a seat in bad weather. At one meeting he had a stand up row with the then boss, who then went on the bus for a few days, and they put on double deckers for a few months after that. Its only really quiet in the summer when there are no students going to the college.

The community council have been really good at fighting with the bus company here over the past few years so I have been in touch with them, hopefully they can help.

I did have the feeling as a private company I wouldn't get very far with a complaint. The bus company have been investigated by the bus ombusman or whoever they are over their service changes because they have upset a lot of people so its not just me!!

sorry for the rant

Tracey

surreysaver

Or complain to the county council - they are responsible for subsidising bus services that aren't commercially viable.

wealdroam

boniespook wrote: »

The bus company have been investigated by the bus ombusman or whoever they are over their service changes because they have upset a lot of people so its not just me!!

Maybe you need to find out more about this "bus ombusman or whoever they are" and add your weight to any complaints they are receiving.

The more people that complain to an ombudsman, the more forceful they will be with the bus company.

whatmichaelsays

If it's First Group running these buses, good luck. Their intention at the moment seems to be to cut off as many communities as possible.

photome

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

If it's First Group running these buses, good luck. Their intention at the moment seems to be to cut off as many communities as possible.

Maybe their intention is to make a profit for their shareholders

Mids_Costcutter

Since deregulation in 1986, operators of commercial services (provided without subsidy) can make changes to the timetable or withdraw a service giving just 56 days notice. Did they give this notice?

Bus Users UK are the independent group representing bus passengers and provide advice on making a complaint:

http://www.bususers.org/index.html

The first step would be to write to the bus company.

whatmichaelsays

photome wrote: »

Maybe their intention is to make a profit for their shareholders

Maybe so, but there are ways of doing it.

Constantly going to the local council / PTA and trying to bend them over a barrel by claiming "we don't want to run this service, either you subsidise it or we'll cut it" isn't, in my view, the way to go about things.