konectbus tops the tables with a 97% satisfaction rating, although customers are concerned about value for money across the Go-Ahead Group
Independent watchdog Passenger Focus has revealed over 5,680 (89%) of the 6,380 passengers it surveyed across the Go-Ahead bus network were satisfied overall with their service, though value for money was a concern.
Passenger Focus worked with the operator to find out the views of passengers on 11 of Go-Ahead’s bus companies outside London. Passengers were asked to rate services on both the journey experience on the bus and at the stop itself.
Top performers were Norfolk-based konectbus, Oxford Bus Company and Oxford Park & Ride with 97%, 92% and 92% overall passenger satisfaction respectively. The remaining eight companies scored between 82% and 91%. Isle of Wight-based Southern Vectis saw passenger satisfaction from the previous year drop by 9% from 91% to 82%.
This research also found only about half of the passengers were satisfied with value for money. Satisfaction with this aspect of a bus service dropped from 60% last year to 52%. Brighton & Hove, Go North East, Plymouth Citybus and Wilts & Dorset operating companies contributed most to this overall decrease in the value for money score. Hampshire-based Bluestar bucked the trend by increasing its value for money score by 5%.
Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus CEO, said: “Go-Ahead’s passengers have spoken and overall they seem to be very happy with their buses. However, value for money is something passengers have highlighted as an issue, so this research provides Go-Ahead with valuable information which can be used to help focus the company’s efforts on improving these scores in the future.”
David Brown, Group CEO at Go-Ahead, said: “I am pleased with this year’s set of results which show our focus on providing high quality services to our passengers does make a difference. In the past year we’ve invested £80m in our bus fleet and continued to roll out our smartcard ‘the key’ across all our bus companies, making it the most used smartcard outside London. A major reason for us doing the survey is to find out where we can improve and then take steps to address those areas. Our firms are already planning initiatives to deliver an even better service.”
