Stagecoach claims Exeter service 'improving'

More drivers hired

The reliability of Stagecoach buses in Exeter has improved according to its new boss, but he admits bus users’ confidence in them “will take time.”

Peter Knight appeared before Exeter’s highways and traffic orders committee (HATOC) on Monday [16 January] for the first time since replacing Mike Watson as managing director of Stagecoach South West.

Last year the committee slammed the city’s bus service as ‘not fit for purpose,’ while Stagecoach was ordered to offer free travel for two weekends in December as compensation to users following a number of complaints about reliability.

However, addressing councillors at county hall this week, Mr Knight suggested the service was now getting better; helped by a staffing situation which “continues to improve,” with a reduction in driver turnover.

“There are 21 vacancies for bus drivers across Stagecoach South West at the moment, which is well within the scope and scale of the shortage that we allow to run,” he said.

Mr Knight, who previously ran the firm’s operation in north east Scotland, also claims ‘lost mileage’ on the Exeter bus network has reduced significantly – down from a peak of seven per cent in the summer to one per cent in the last four weeks and just 0.3 per cent last week.

He added that traffic congestion is now the biggest cause of lost miles, not a shortage of drivers. As a result, the firm is now reviewing its timetables, particularly around rush hours, to ensure buses have time to complete routes.

“I hope that gives you some comfort that we are on a journey to a brighter future here. There is some clear and sustained light at the end of the tunnel,” Mr Knight said.

But he warned bus use is only back at 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while the number of concessionary passengers is “stubbornly lagging” at 65 per cent.

“That being said, I absolutely recognise that those recovery numbers … have not been helped by our service delivery and the confidence around using our services.”

Mr Knight said his team is “eating, sleeping and breathing” service delivery.

Following one councillor’s question about the company’s app being unreliable, Mr Knigh said he hopes to have improvements to the data for both the app and bus stop countdown timers within the next four weeks.

One councillor praised a perceived improvement in reliability. Cllr Tracey Adams (Labour, Pinhoe & Mincinglake) said: “For the first time in a long time, I’ve had some residents write to me to say how delighted they are with some of the improvements.”

But Cllr Rob Hannaford (Labour, Exwick & St Thomas) reminded the company’s new boss that the service had been “absolutely appalling for such a long time,” claiming it is one of the reasons for Exeter’s congested streets.

“So many people now have been forced back into using their cars, because they’ve got no other reliable way of getting around the city.

“Now, I accept you’re working hard to solve that, but you’re going have to get everything in place then obviously run it for some time to build up the confidence … it’s not going to be a straightforward process.”

Cllr Hannaford questioned Mr Knight’s lost mileage figures, adding: “My own experience as a bus user is that it’s slightly better but it’s far from being where it should be.”

He also claimed that, for both the public and councillors, “the jury’s very much out whether or not Stageocach is, with respect, a fit and proper company to run the bus service because of what’s happened.”

“You may turn it around. I hope you turn it around, but I think it’s so bad that I think we’re very much looking at different models [and] different ways of looking at it. And as you know, the council is exploring a franchising model to get more direct control on it, particularly when there is so much public subsidy.”

Cllr Adams also urged Mr Knight to make sure enough buses are going right into the centre of the city, citing this as one of the main reasons why older passengers are being put off from using the service.

Stagecoach hopes a national scheme capping single fares at £2 per journey until the end of March will help entice more people back onto buses.

The meeting was told 82,000 such tickets had been sold in the south west so far, with Exeter to Exmouth, and Exeter to Tiverton being the two most popular local routes for the discounted fares.