Annual performance report 2011 – 12 South West PDF - Stagecoach ...

annual report
May 2011 to
April 2012
SOUTH WEST
www.stagecoachbus.com

Operational performance statistics
About us
Stagecoach South West provides local bus services across Exeter, East Devon, Torbay, South
Devon, North Devon, Somerset and into Cornwall and Dorset. Our aim is to provide safe,
reliable, punctual, clean and comfortable services with a good value for money range of
tickets and fares. This annual report covers the year from May 2011 to April 2012.
Our passengers
We carried a total of 27 million passengers over the year, an increase of 0.14% over the
previous year.
We received a total of 2,526 passenger complaints about our services. That equates to one
complaint per 10,689 passengers. We comply with our industry code of practice, and every
complaint is investigated and action taken to avoid repetition of the problem.
Our services
We operated a total of 14 million miles over the year, a decrease of 6% over the previous
year. This was due to cuts in local authority tendered services and concessionary travel
payments. However, despite the challenging economic conditions, we have worked hard to
maintain a stable network.
Our key measure of performance is the reliability and punctuality of our services. In the
past year we operated 99.2% of our scheduled services, with 0.3% failure due to internal
reasons and 0.5% failure due to traffic congestion or adverse weather conditions. We
monitor our services for punctuality and 96.9% of
our services operated within 5 minutes of their
scheduled time, traffic congestion again being
the main reason for delay. We continue to
seek improvements both through rescheduling
services and in discussions with our local highway
authorities.
99.2%
of all scheduled
services operated.
During the second half of 2011 we branded the
36 new vehicles purchased for Exeter as ‘Ex-Citi’
in order to create a coherent identity for the
network. March 2012 saw an investment of £3.9
million in 23 new Scania E400 double decker
buses for our flagship Service 12 in Torbay.

Our staff
We are a major South West employer with
725 drivers, 95 engineers and cleaners, and
65 supervisors, managers and administration
staff, all of whom are based locally. We have
continued to invest in training all our staff.
The majority of our drivers have completed
the first four stages of their Certificate
of Professional Competence (CPC). Our
engineers are all skilled workers and we
employ 6 apprentices to provide skills for the
future. Our supervisors and managers have all
completed relevant training courses for their
various professions.
Our fares
We increased fares once during the year by
an average of 5%. This was to cover our
increased costs of pay, fuel and insurance,
and to provide for further investment in new
vehicles, plant and equipment.
Our fleet
We operate a fleet of 315 buses and coaches,
of which we replaced 23 over the past year
with a total investment of £3.9 million.
99% of our fleet (excluding school buses) is
wheelchair and buggy accessible.
All our vehicles are inspected by our
engineers at least every 3 weeks, and
maintained to much higher standards than the
legal minimum to ensure safety and comfort.
Every vehicle is cleaned daily and the average
age of our vehicles is 6.5 years old.
Like all businesses, we have been affected
by the continuing economic conditions. The
last 12 months have been unprecedented in
terms of a loss of tendered revenue from local
authority contracts, a 74% increase in fuel tax
due to a reduction in Government support
and substantially higher prices for fuel and
utilities.
However, we have worked hard to keep
fare increases to a minimum and believe our
buses still offer a greener, smarter and more
affordable alternative to the car.

Our environment
We used 1.814 million gallons of
diesel last year, at an average of 7.6
miles per gallon. We are working
to improve fuel consumption
through technical measures, and all
our drivers have completed a safe
and fuel-efficient driving course.
Stagecoach Group has recently
achieved the Carbon Trust Standard
for reducing CO2 tonnes emissions,
and has announced a challenging
CO2 reduction programme for
the next 5 years. During the first
12 months of this programme, we
achieved a 17.9% reduction in
CO2 tonnes emissions within our
depots through measures including
installing intelligent lighting and
encouraging our staff to display
more environmentally aware
behaviour.
All our fleet runs on low sulphur
diesel, with a high-tech additive
Envirox, to reduce pollution and
improve fuel consumption. Vehicle
engines must meet increasingly
higher Euro standards of exhaust
emissions. 85.7 % of our fleet
meets at least the Euro 3 standard.
We recycle most of our waste, such
as litter, used oils, filters, batteries,
parts, etc. We also recycle the
water we use to wash our vehicles
every night.
Our achievements
We are justly proud that, despite the ongoing economic
situation, we have maintained network stability for our
customers with a minimal loss of services and routes.
We are committed to continuing to invest in the South
West. During this past financial year we purchased 23 new
double decker vehicles for Torbay at a total cost of £3.9
million.
We have been fully engaged with the Group wide energy
management programme, achieving a 17.9% savings on
our depot CO2 tonnes emissions when benchmarked
against the previous financial year.
We have successfully introduced Smartcards for all
concessionary passengers travelling on our South West
services and look forward to participating in further
innovative projects designed to improve our customers’
experience.
Our Torbay Depot was named Runner Up in the 2011
UK Bus Awards ‘Top National Depot’ category, with the
judges commenting:
“Stagecoach South West’s Torbay depot has a team of staff
who pull together to deliver exceptional service day in and
day out…Not only do the staff excel when it comes to
their work lives, including their commitment to recycling
and ‘green issues’, but the judges were impressed with
their interest in and support of out-of-work activities, with
them genuinely enjoying spending time together outside
the workplace whether raising money for charity or
enjoying a barbecue at their fun day.”
We were delighted with this commendation,
demonstrating as it does that working for a large company
does not preclude enjoying a family atmosphere.

Key Facts
27 million passengers
were carried on Stagecoach South West services
14 million miles were operated
within the South West across Devon, Somerset and into
Cornwall and Dorset
99.2 % service reliability and 96.9 % service punctuality
315 buses
operating on 132 routes across Devon and Somerset, extending into Cornwall
885 staff
at 6 depots and 3 Outstations
£3.9 million investment
in 23 new buses for Torbay
Runner up ‘Top National Bus Depot’
at the 2011 UK Bus Awards
17.9% reduction in CO2 tonnes emissions
when compared to the previous financial year

Exeter 01392 42 77 11
Torbay 01803 66 45 00
Barnstaple 01271 32 90 89
disability helpline
01392 88 97 49
travel shops
Exeter bus station
Paignton bus station
Torquay, 15 Victoria Parade
customer services
Stagecoach South West
Belgrave Road Exeter EX1 2LB
southwest.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com
stagecoachbus.com/southwest
devon.gov.uk/devonbus
ticket agents
For a full list of our ticket agents
please visit:
stagecoachbus.com/southwest
what to do if things go wrong
We do our best to meet your expectations, but occasionally
things go wrong. If you feel we have failed you in some way
please tell us about it by contacting customer services at the
address above.
If you’re unhappy with our response, this is the independent
body that will review complaints:
The Bus Appeals Body PO Box 119 Shepperton TW17 8UX
train information
08457 48 49 50
bus times
All information correct at the time of going to press (June 2012)