West Midlands Buses Struggle with Punctuality, Leaving Passengers Frustrated
Recent data shows that a significant number of West Midlands buses are running late, causing frustration among commuters.
West Midlands, Buses, Punctuality, Transport, Commuters
West Midlands: It turns out that about 20% of bus journeys in the West Midlands were late over a three-month stretch. A report shared with the West Midlands Combined Authority showed that only 79.6% of buses were on time from July to September.
While that’s a tiny bump of 0.9% from the previous quarter, Councillor Carol Hyatt from Wolverhampton said it really feels like a lot when you think about it. Rail services were a bit better, with 82.8% on time, but that was down from 84% earlier in the year.
On the bright side, metro services did pretty well, hitting 91% reliability, up from 89%. However, fewer people were using buses and trains in the second quarter, likely because schools were out for summer.
Customer satisfaction took a hit too. Only 56% of bus riders felt they were getting good value for their money, which is a drop of 15% from last year. This was mainly due to rising fares.
Rail services fared even worse, with just 50% of passengers satisfied with their value for money, down from 73%. This drop was linked to more cancellations last summer because of driver shortages.
Metro users were happier, but even their satisfaction fell from 82% to 71%. On a positive note, more people felt safe using public transport, rising to 86.3% this year compared to 84.8% last year.
Councillor Hyatt summed it up well: “With 79% of bus services on time, that means 20% aren’t. That’s one in five buses, and it really feels like a lot sometimes.”