It wont have escaped your attention that the country seems to be very short of drivers at the moment. This is seen in the number of empty shelves in supermarkets, missing products when shopping online and longer delivery times for many online retailers. Of course the bus companies are no exception and are all desperate for drivers.
Plymouth Citybus has always been very good at keeping passengers up to date on Twitter and has now actually set up a page with all the services that are being cancelled currently, trying to space them out across their network:
We are having to make reductions to some of our bus routes with immediate effect. https://www.plymouthbus.co.uk/changes-bus-services
This is due to challenges we are facing with staff availability, a problem facing many transport operators. We believe this issue will be short term as we move through the current spike of absence and progress the training of over 40 new drivers in our recruitment system.
Services affected are:
Monday-Friday
5/A
Removing buses running from Royal Parade to Elburton at: 07.25, 9.25, 10.35, 13.05, 15.25
Removing buses running from Elburton to Royal Parade at: 7.35, 9.55, 11.05, 13.35, 15.55
Removing buses running from Royal Parade to Callington Road (Saltash) at: 8.10, 14.10
Removing bus running from Callington Road (Saltash) to Royal Parade at: 8.40, 14.40
8/9
Removing buses running from Royal Parade to Torridge Way at: 11.22, 15.32, 16.17, 18.15
Removing buses running from Torridge Way to City Centre at: 11.34, 15.52, 16.37, 18.30
16
Removing buses running from Royal Parade to Kings Tamerton at: 8.25, 15.55
Removing buses running from Kings Tamerton to Royal Parade at: 8.48, 16.18
21/A
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Barne Barton at: 7.05, 9.35, 13.35, 16.55, 19.30, 21.45
Removing buses running from Barne Barton towards Royal Parade at: 7.34, 10.04, 14.04, 17.28, 22.08
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Plympton at: 8.15, 10.45, 14.45, 15.35, 18.20, 22.40
Removing buses running from Plympton towards Royal Parade at: 8.54, 11.21, 15.21, 16.14, 18.49, 23.12
27
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Deer Park at: 10.30, 11.30
Removing buses running from Deer Park towards Royal Parade at: 10.48, 11.48
28/A
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Crownhill at: 9.15, 9.45
Removing buses running from Crownhill towards Royal Parade at: 9.45, 17.25
40
Removing bus running from Royal Parade towards Southway at 13.25
Removing bus running from Southway towards Royal Parade at: 13.56
42
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Mainstone at: 6.45, 8.50, 11.50, 15.50, 17.55
Removing buses running from Mainstone towards Royal Parade at: 7.37, 9.45, 12.45, 16.50, 18.45, 19.58
Removing bus running from The Ship towards Mainstone at 19.21
42A
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Tamerton Foliot at: 12.00, 18.05, 20.30
Removing buses running from Tamerton Foliot towards Royal Parade at: 12.49, 18.49, 21.13
42C
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Woolwell at: 13.40, 15.10, 16.40, 22.00
Removing buses running from Woolwell towards Royal Parade at: 14.21, 15.56, 17.26, 22.49
43
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Ernesettle at: 10.15, 12.15, 14.15, 17.05
Removing buses running from Ernesettle towards Royal Parade at: 10.47, 12.47, 14.53, 17.38
50
Removing buses running from Royal Parade towards Derriford Hospital at: 9.25, 11.05, 12.05, 14.25, 16.05
Removing buses running from Derriford Hospital to Royal Parade at: 10.20, 15.20, 17.05
61
Removing buses running from Royal Parade to Transit Way at: 7.05, 14.35
Removing bus running from Transit Way to Royal Parade at 15.10
You can see all current timetables on our website or via the Plymouth Citybus app, and can contact our Customer Experience Team on 01752 662271
We’ve tried to focus our resources on routes which get students to school, key workers to their jobs, and patients and visitors to healthcare, but we know that this will cause inconveniences for some of you, for which we apologise. We’re working to get more drivers on the road, and are actively recruiting and training. The driver shortage has been compounded by delays at the DVLA, slowing down the paperwork we need before someone can drive for us.
If you’re interested in becoming a driver, you can find out more here: https://www.plymouthbus.co.uk/careers
Stagecoach are also having major problems
Thursday 9th September 2021
The following journeys will not operate:
Exeter
A From Alphington 0646, 0811, 0941, 1111, 1241, 1411, 1541, 1712
From Thornpark Rise 0620, 0739, 0903, 1033, 1203, 1333, 1503, 1633, 1803
E From Exwick 0625, 0705, 0753, 0902, 0959, 1059, 1159, 1259, 1359, 1503, 1607, 1710, 1818
From City Centre 0610, 0650, 0741, 0840, 0940, 1040, 1140, 1240, 1340, 1440, 1540, 1640, 1750
F2 From Summerway 0755, 0920, 1050, 1220, 1350, 1520, 1650, 1820,
From City Centre 0740, 0900, 1030, 1200, 1330, 1500, 1630, 1800
F2 From Savoy Hill 0627, 0655, 0725, 0835, 1005, 1135, 1305, 1435, 1605, 1735, 1900
From City Centre 0612, 0640, 0710, 0815, 0945, 1115, 1245, 1415, 1545, 1715, 1845,
K From Science Park 0746, 0846, 0948, 1048, 1148, 1248, 1348, 1448, 1558, 1648, 1748, 18458, 2005
From City Centre 0720, 0820, 0920, 1020, 1120, 1220, 1320, 1420, 1520, 1620, 1720, 1830, 1930
GREEN From Matford P&R 0745, 0925, 1649, 1845,
From Sowton P&R 0833, 1002, 1615, 1755, 1920
R From Rifford Road 0735, 0810, 0850,0930, 1010, 1050, 1130, 1210, 1250, 1330, 1410, 1450, 1530, 1610, 1650, 1730, 1810
From City Centre 0750. 0832. 0912. 0950, 1030, 1110, 1150, 1230, 1310, 1350, 1430, 1510,1550, 1630, 1710, 1750, 1825
S From Rifford Road 0725, 0800, 0840, 0920, 1000, 1040, 1120, 1200, 1240, 1320, 1400, 1440, 1520, 1600, 1640, 1720, 1800
From City Centre 0742, 0822, 0902, 0940, 1020, 1100, 1140,1220, 1300, 1340, 1420, 1500, 1540, 1620, 1700, 1740, 1820
J From Tesco Superstore 0717, 0817, 0917, 1017, 1117, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1605, 1710, 1810
From City Centre 0652, 0754, 0855, 0955, 1055, 1122, 1222, 1322, 1422, 1522, 1630, 1736, 1835
57 From Exeter 0640, 0710, 0740, 0815, 0905, 0930, 1000, 1045, 1130, 1200, 1230, 1315, 1400, 1430, 1505, 1550, 1635, 1705, 1740, 1825
From Exmouth 0523, 0715, 0728, 0802, 0833, 0918, 1005, 1035, 1105, 1150, 1235, 1305, 1335, 1420, 1504, 1534, 1613, 1658, 1750, 1816, 1842
Torbay
12 From Paignton Bus Station 13:27:00,09:08,12:35,14:35,15:22
12 From Brixham 14:10:00,07:50,10:40,13.00,10:10,14:30,10:30,12:50,15:00,18:00,12:00,17:30,14.30,
12 From Cary Parade 08:01,
12 From Newton Abbot 14:30:00,08:50,11:30,16:30,10:40,13:30,16:00
12 From Torquay Harbour 09:47,
12 From Newton Rd Asda 06:55, 09:20,
13 From Newton Rd Asda 12:51:00,14:05
13 From Brixham 14:00
22 From Dawlish warren 11:05
22 From St Marychurch 115:35,18:30,
22 From Torquay Strand 11:20:00,
22 From Paignton Bus Station 09/01/1900 09:03:12,13:46,
22 From South Devon College 14:23,17:03,
23 From Paignton Bus Station 15:48,16:13,16:53
23 From South Devon College 15:53,16:33,17:13
32C From Grammar School 16:05
77 From Sherborne Rd 8:52
35A From Torquay Harbour 11:40,13:00
35C From Torquay Harbour 06:27,07:00,11:40,13:00
FOX From Paignton Bus Station 11.00,11.30
North Devon
21 From Barnstaple - Westward Ho! 0545,
From Westward Ho! - Barnstaple 0630,
From Barnstaple - Ilfracombe 0732, 1325,
From Ilfraocmbe - Barnstaple 0820, 1420,
21A From Barnstaple - Appledore 0706, 0740, 0910, 0940, 1010, 1110, 1210, 1310, 1340,
From Appledore - Barnstaple 0809, 0839, 1009, 1039, 1109, 1209, 1309, 1409, 1439,
10/10A From Barnstaple - Gorwell 1155, 1455, 1525,
From Gorwell - Barnstaple 1202, 1502, 1532,
11A/11C From Barnstaple - Whiddon Valley 0755, 0835, 0915, 0955, 1035, 1115, 1155, 1235, 1315,
From Whiddon Valley - Barnstaple 0811, 0853, 0933, 1011, 1053, 1133, 1211, 1253, 1333,
Plymouth
101 From George P&R 07:30 07:45 09:00 09:22 10:22 10:37 11:37 11:52 12:52 13:07 13:22 14:22 14:37 15:37 15:52 17:00 18:05 18:25 19:15
101 From Royal Parade 07:05 08:10 08:30 09:45 10:00 11:00 11:15 12:15 12:30 12:45 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:00 15:15 15:45 16:15 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:00 18:45 19:45
1 From Tavistock 05:50 08:05 10:00 11;15 12:00 13:30 14:45 15:45 17:10 18:20
1 From Royal Parade 06:10 06:51 09:08 09:51 10:51 11:51 12:06 12:51 14:21 15:51 16:42
2 From Mount Batten 07:53 09:20 10:20 11:00 11:40 12:00 12:40 13:00 14:00 14:20 15:20 6:43 17:03 17:38 18:00 18:30 18:53 19:23 20:23 21:23 23:23
2 From St Stephens 06:32 09:03 10:22 10:42 12:02 12:42 13:42 14:02 16:24 16:44 17:25 18:04 19:23 20:18 22:18
2A From Sherford 07:42 08:22 09:10 11:30 11:50 12:10 13:50 14:10 15:10 15:22 15:51 16:12 16:53 17:14 17:44 17:54 18:13 18 :41 19:53
2A From Saltash 06:20 07:36 08:51 09:31 10:10 10:30 12:50 13:10 13:50 14:30 14:50 15:10 15:51 16:12 16:31 17:05 17:51 18:11 18:52 19:15 19:46
Falcon From Plymouth 02:00 am 05:00 am
Falcon From Bristol 6:30 am 10:00 am
There is a similar list for Friday 10th on the same page
Of course with all of this going on you can expect any competent government to be doing its best to get things moving and put into place a proper well thought out plan to help operators. Sadly however we do not have a competent government in this country so good luck…
Of course they blame covid for all of this, and I am sure covid certainly plays its part in making things worse – however covid exists all around the world at the moment – and nowhere else seems to having the same chronic staff shortages as we are.
Indeed, other European countries do not seem to be having the same issues, yet pay and conditions are generally no better than in the UK, in some cases worse. Must be something else...
ReplyDeleteFirst South West is introducing its winter timetable early on the Atlantic Coaster from Sunday, but no details as yet. Strangely, bits of the Daytripper network appear to still be operating - I'd have thought they'd be the first to be sacrificed.
its difficult keeping up with it all at the moment, but I thought the Day Trippers were all suspended back in July
DeleteI think Daytrippers have since been reinstated
DeleteAtlantic Coaster reduced Thur 9 Sep to just 3 or 4 Newquay-Padstow services with one Perranporth return trip. No St Ives at all until next year.
DeleteYes Daytripper was suspended in summer but certain trips advertised returning from start of Sept school term.
You are right - a few of the Day Tippers were reinstated last week.
Deletecounting all the trips not run between the 2 companies, sc are 159 against citybus's 100, tho in fact pcb are only dropping 70 trips. but evening herald dont give them the coverage that they did to citybus....
ReplyDeleteYes indeed poor reporting ignoring SC has far higher missing services right across its patch, so much worse than Citybus!
DeleteI think you are placing too much emphasis on the word "reporting" - these days all it means is printing press releases and watching what happens on Twitter / Facebook. Citybus is excellent at reporting all the services it has to cancel. Stagecoach is a lot more hit & miss on this. somedays they do, other tim4es it hidden deep within their awful web site.
DeleteThe Daytrippers were suspended back in July, but FSW announced on their website that from 5th September D1, D4, D5, D7 and D8 were restarting.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot around Covid pings and the Brexit issues around drivers. Also there's a lot of drivers quitting their jobs at the moment. It's all gone a bit pear shaped for buses everywhere!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why "pings" would still be an issue. It no longer applies to the double vaccinated and over 80% of the adult population are double vaccinated.
DeleteSorry to disagree but how it boris's fault the gvmt got us out of europe after a referendum result was to leave the eu also the gvmt gave bus ops a bailout package to cover them over covid and there was the furlough scheme that paid 80% to retain staff the main problem is the wages the drivers get paid. You get told its a skilled job lives are in your hands yet you can earn more money taking burger orders at a mcdonalds or stacking shelves at lidl. Also haulage firms have increased wages due to a shortage of drivers so lets face it loyalty is a thing of past if you can get more money driving on the same roads just with a different cargo then you would be a fool not to least a tin of beans wont pick an argument with and blame you after being stick in a traffic jam because its gone a miss its flight so thats why there a shortage of pcv drivers because its an awful low paid job
ReplyDeleteCorrect. Worst offender is Stagecoach.
DeleteI'm not sure anyone did blame Boris but a number of the issues have been affected by government decisions:
Delete1. Operators are struggling to get new drivers through the system - the DVLA (a government agency) have reportedly been suffering from a 2 or 3 month backlog on processing licensing applications (due to staff shortages, both COVID related & persistent & pre-COVID issues & industrial action).
2. Having gone for the hardest of Brexit options and not choosing to include transport (either buses and/or trucks) as an industry which has a staff shortage which would allow more work permits for foreign staff to be recruited to bridge the gap.
3. The government (both local & national) have reduced funding for bus services support and make little reference to quality favoring the lowest bidder holding down income and as wages are the largest cost for operators that limits what can be offered.
4. The government has increased the amount of fuel tax paid by bus operators (by repeatedly reducing the rebate on fuel duty for bus operators) increasing costs for operators.
5. The government (this was the previous Labour government but the current Tory one has not only not fixed the issue but made it worst) has introduced various schemes which remove the operators control over their income - Concessionary Fares is the most obvious where operators not only cannot determine what payment they receive per passenger paid but get penalised by reduced reimbursement if they try to recoup that shortfall by increasing normal fares.
I agree that the issue is that bus driving is a skilled job that doesn't receive as high a wage as that skill deserves but the problem is that wider society doesn't value that job sufficiently to be prepared (either directly through the fares they pay or indirectly through their taxes funding things properly) to pay the money necessary to allow operators to pay their staff the wage they deserve. Most companies are not making large profits, margins at many companies were closer to 5% than 10% before COVID and so any significant wage increase would wipe out all smaller companies in short order (especially since passenger numbers are still 60-70% of pre-COVID passenger numbers and government funding is reduced and is expected to finish completely at the end of the year)
Nonsense.
DeleteThe issues are:
1. Covid has produced a speed up in the creation of lots of local delivery jobs.
2. HGV shortages aren’t the biggest issue but they are pushing across in the overall jobs market.
3. EU nationals have left the U.K. jobs market in significant numbers.
4. Bus company recruitment stopped while we had staff on furlough and reduced work, while natural turnover continued (eg retirements)
5. I have dozens of people wanting to drive my buses at our current rates but there is a huge delay at DVLA with granting provisional licences, amd getting medicals is difficult.
Bus drivers are leaving to be lorry drivers because there's a shortage, because of Brexit. Feel sorry for the bus drivers at the moment to be honest with you. Totally agree theyre leaving for better paid jobs.
DeleteI forgot about the issue of getting the necessary medicals - its hard enough getting a medical appt for an urgent problem let alone a medical at the moment
ReplyDelete