Citybus Satisfies

Plymouth Citybus has recently published the results of the annual Passenger Focus survey which shows things are moving in the right direction...It is interesting that the biggest rise is in the value for money category. So many of the anti Citybus comments which get posted here from time to time are keen to point out fares difference between First and Citybus would be the undoing of Citybus. I was watching departures from Derriford into the City Centre last week when both Citybus 42s and First 15s were standing at the bus stop at the same time. First are certainly picking up plenty of passengers on this busy corridor but the higher fares on Citybus are not putting people off yet - there are still more passengers for the 42 than the 15. (Personally I still prefer to catch the 15 if I go into town as I have more of a chance of getting a decent seat)

Plymouth Citybus Passenger Satisfaction Rises Again! Plymouth Citybus’ overall passenger satisfaction continued to rise this year to 91%. Results published by independent watchdog Passenger Focus shows that the overall passenger satisfaction of Plymouth Citybus services increased from 90% in 2013 to 91% in 2014.
One of the big increases has come from how passengers rated the services value for money, which rose a whopping 8% overall, which included a 10% increase in commuting passengers. The survey measures all aspects of a passenger’s experience, from bus stops to the overall bus appearance, the driver to reason for travel.
Other notable increases have come from the overall cleanliness of the bus, up 4%. This was teamed with driver helpfulness and attitude up 5% and smoothness of the journey also up 5%. Looking at what passengers use the bus for, the research shows an increase of people using the bus for both shopping and leisure purposes.
Plymouth Citybus’ Managing Director Richard Stevens said: “It is clear to see from the independent research that those areas in which we have focused and invested in have shown the highest increases. Over the last 12 months we have revised our fares offering and the channels in which passengers can buy their bus tickets. This clearly shows in the 8% increase in customer satisfaction when it comes to value for money. We have also invested in training, which in turn has paid off seeing both driver helpfulness and smoothness of journey increase. We can see that there is still room for improvement and will be putting systems in place to make sure that our score continues to increase year on year”.
Councillor Mark Coker, Plymouth City Council Cabinet Member for Transport said “I welcome this result and my congratulations go to Plymouth Citybus on their improved customer satisfaction ratings, a reliable customer friendly network meets with our vision for transport in the city to provide users with a better journey experience.”

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