Do you Measure Up…

… or does your local bus operator? Today we ask whether you (as an operator) or your bus services (as a passenger) measure up to six key targets set by Bus Users UK. Click here to take the simple six-question survey now…

I’m not sure how it got to my desk but I’ve just noticed a copy of a 16-page booklet “Bus Users UK Good Practice Guide: what passengers want from a bus service”. It certainly isn’t date stamped in.

And I’m not sure when it was published. It’s not a cardinal sin but neither is it venial, either: BUUK has failed to date it! So much for good practice? Looking at the registration marks of the buses within, the youngest is 07-reg, so it must’ve been published in the spring of 2007 or later.

BUUK acknowledges that there are operators that get things right most of the time. Pointedly, it also suggests that there are minimum standards that passengers should expect throughout the country, with all that that implies. In theory, BUUK’s minimum standards should align quite nicely with operators’ own commercial interests.

In considering information, bus stops, the vehicles themselves, fares, punctuality, complaints and consultation, BUUK sets out what it believes passengers need and want, from the basic to the aspirational. It’s evident that much of its guidance comes from perpetual complaints made to BUUK. It’s also evident that some things are beyond the control of operators (often bus infrastructure).

Within, BUUK introduces six key targets. If you are an operator, how do you shape up? If a passenger, how do you rate your operators? Kindly tell us how you fair, using Click here to take the simple six-question survey now…