Devon's buses rated amongst the best in the country

Bus passengers using Stagecoach are more satisfied with their service than customers using other national UK operators, according to new independent research.

Consumer watchdog Passenger Focus found that 86% of Stagecoach bus passengers were either fairly or very satisfied with their overall service, with only 5% dissatisfied.

The overall customer ratings for Stagecoach were higher than three other national UK bus operators: Arriva (85%), First (81%) and National Express (78%). Passenger Focus does not include Go Ahead in the national operator results due to the small sample of their services covered by the survey.

Stagecoach also scored highest on the three key headline areas in the survey:  value for money, punctuality and journey time.

Table 1: Overall bus passenger satisfaction % by national operator*

Operator          

Stagecoach

Overall satisfaction: 86
Value for money: 59
Punctuality: 74
Journey time: 86

Arriva

Overall satisfaction: 85
Value for money: 48
Punctuality: 71
Journey time: 86

First

Overall satisfaction: 81
Value for money: 48
Punctuality: 63
Journey time: 83

National Express

Overall satisfaction: 78
Value for money: 50
Punctuality: 62
Joruney time: 80
Source: Passenger Focus

Passenger Focus surveyed more than 22,000 passengers from 20 areas across England, outside of London. It found that the average satisfaction with all operators across England was 84%. Bus passengers in Nottingham were most satisfied with a rating of 92%.

Satisfaction with Stagecoach services ranged from 84% in the Kent County Council and Transport for Greater Manchester areas to 90% in the Devon County Council area, giving Stagecoach South West the highest result for all Stagecoach operating companies surveyed and the third highest across all operating companies surveyed. Stagecoach had a higher overall satisfaction than its competitors in virtually every region surveyed.

Les Warneford, Managing Director of Stagecoach UK Bus, said: “We are proud that independent research has found Stagecoach customers are the most satisfied of any national operator. These results show that we are doing a lot right.

“On the key things that matter to our customers – value for money, punctuality and journey times - we are consistently the best. That is down to the hard work of all of our people, from the teams who prepare and maintain our buses to the drivers who welcome our customers on board.

“But we know we don’t always get things right and we need to work hard to do even better. Good customer service is particularly important to attract people who don’t use the bus and take the car. We will continue to focus on training our people, investing in improving our bus fleet, and working in partnership with local authorities to make bus travel even better.”

Michelle Hargreaves, Managing Director of Stagecoach South West, added “I’m delighted by the high score we have been awarded in the latest Passenger Focus survey and would like to personally thank all of my staff for contributing to this fantastic result. It’s testament to the ongoing investment in our services and network and continued partnership working with local authorities that we have achieved such a high level of customer satisfaction.”

Bruce Thompson, Head of Devon County Council’s Transportation Co-ordination Service, said: “The feedback from this annual survey is really valuable, and it is great to see how highly our residents have rated the bus services in the county this year.

“Providing bus services in a large rural county provides real challenges, but these findings help endorse much of what we do at the Council to improve services and information by working together with bus operators such as Stagecoach to maintain stability of routes and timetables.

“We understand that bus services are vital to a large number of people and communities across the county, and in the face of unprecedented budget reductions we continue to work hard to minimise the effect of changes to the services we support by maintaining a degree of service wherever possible and avoiding removing the last remaining service from communities.

“I am pleased to see that, alongside the good work of bus operators in Devon, the Council’s investment in aspects such as good quality accessible information, improvements to many bus stops and our approach to making sure roadwork’s are planned to minimise disruption to bus services have been recognised as making a difference to passenger satisfaction.”

Stagecoach is involved in a number of initiatives to improve the quality and affordability of bus travel, and to increase customer satisfaction even further:

Professional training

Stagecoach’s team of more than 18,000 drivers at its regional bus companies have completed more than 73,000 courses under the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence programme. It is one of the biggest commitments to continuous professional development of any bus operator in the UK and includes modules around customer service, disability awareness, safe and skilled driving, and eco-driving techniques.

New bus investment

Stagecoach has invested around £445m in new buses and coaches for the UK in the past six years. In 2013-14 alone, the company is investing more than £75 million in 430 new buses and coaches for its operations in the UK and Continental Europe. Most of the new buses and coaches will be produced in the UK, helping support hundreds of British manufacturing jobs.

Affordable travel

Stagecoach has twice been independently assessed as offering the lowest bus fares of any major UK bus operator. It has also launched the UK’s first long-term nationwide discounted bus travel scheme for jobseekers. The initiative jobseekers a 50% discount on their bus travel to help them find employment.

Better information

Stagecoach is rolling out Twitter across its UK bus companies. It follows trial Twitter accounts at its Oxfordshire, Oxford Tube and East Scotland bus businesses to test the use of the micro-blogging site to improve customer service. Passengers have welcomed the provision of real-time information, particularly during times of severe weather and other disruption. An improved Stagecoachbus.com website, new online journey planner and smartphone app are also in development.

Smart ticketing

Stagecoach was the first major operator to have smartcard technology on all of its buses, making it easier for people to travel and make integrated journeys using both bus and rail services. The company’s StagecoachSmart travel card lets passengers store their tickets electronically and pay for travel using a hassle-free automatic monthly payment. Stagecoach is also involved in the UK’s first trial of near-field communications technology for mobile phone ticketing in Cambridge, and it has also successfully tested use of contactless bankcards to pay for bus travel.

Greener travel

Stagecoach is leading the way in making bus travel greener. It has cut the carbon intensity of its UK bus operations by nearly 20% in the past four years. The company has invested in improved energy management systems at offices and depots to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. A hi-tech eco-driving system being rolled out across the UK has reduced fuel consumption by around 4% and resulted in smoother journeys for passengers. Stagecoach is also the UK bus industry's leading investor in new hybrid electric buses, which deliver a 30% reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard vehicles.