Bus users group - ‘continuity vital to successful transition’

The bus service suffered a string of problems the last time there was a change of operator, in 2012, and the initial terms of that contract had to be improved.

The Bus Users’ Group urged Environment & Infrastructure to learn the lessons of 12 years ago and ensure a more successful handover from CT Plus to Stagecoach next spring.

‘We thought the decision would be announced sooner because the tender went out this time last year, but six months’ warning is OK,’ said coordinator Fergus Dunlop.

‘The new contract will be for five years, possibly seven. Back in 2011, there was an initial three-month contract. But five to seven years is enough to encourage investment on both sides.’

It is understood that plans are already being put in place for continuity in staff between the current operator and its successor. Mr Dunlop said that was ‘vital to a successful transition’ and hoped it would include management as well as drivers and other employees.

He felt passengers should be reassured by the vast experience of the new operator, the largest in the UK, which includes taking over services previously run by CT Plus’s parent company, and hoped Stagecoach might entertain some ideas bus users have put forward in the past.

‘Stagecoach may also be open to long-standing requests which CT Plus refused, such as a free seafront route for buses out of service between the terminus and Admiral Park, and cycles being allowed on empty buses at the driver’s discretion,’ he said.

However, Mr Dunlop acknowledged that some passengers would be sorry to see CT Plus go and that Stagecoach did not have an unblemished reputation for its services in the UK.

‘CT Plus has generally done a good job, with punctual services, a sensible timetable and routes, reasonable prices and deals, and keeping buses mostly clean, despite headwinds on hiring enough drivers since Brexit and inflation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine,’ he said.

‘The risk in replacing CT Plus is one of unknowns. CT Plus brought us night buses, opened the information kiosk at the terminus and later the shop, and got the first live bus-tracker app up and running, though it disappeared for most of 2022.’

Mr Dunlop listed several areas where questions remain to be answered about the new deal between the States and Stagecoach, including on service levels, inflation, profits and ticket prices, where he said ‘E&I has been quite cunning in the past’ and hoped they had been again.

‘Where do Stagecoach stand on technology, particularly improving the live bus tracker app and use of electric buses?

‘Hopefully Stagecoach has the buying power to get good discounts, but they must not force us to take buses wider than we currently have, just because they would fit in the UK.

‘Let’s not go back to the old Caetano-size road-hogs. The current Streetvibes are as wide as our pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers want.’