Annual performance report 2009 – 10 West Scotland PDF

getting in touch
For information or to make comments or suggestions regarding any of
our services contact:
Stagecoach Customer Services
Stagecoach West Scotland
Sandgate
Ayr, KA7 1DD
west.scotland@stagecoachbus.com
www.stagecoachbus.com/western
KEY FACTS
32 million passenger journeys
were made on Stagecoach West Scotland services
23 million miles operated
within West Scotland encompassing Ayrshire & Arran,
Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Dumfries & Galloway
99.8% reliability and 96% punctuality
giving passengers a high degree of confidence in our services
470 buses and coaches
60% of which are fully accessible, DDA compliant operating on
over 160 routes
1200 employees
working across the 8 depots that serve West Scotland
£3.4 million investment
in new vehicles, cleaner fuel and more efficient services
We have a dedicated helpdesk for customers with
disabilities. Call 07736 892 253 for assistance.
This operates Mon - Fri from 0900hrs to 1600hrs.
Alternatively email or write as above.
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.
Contact details are above.
If you are unhappy with our response, this independent body
will review complaints:
Bus Passengers’ Platform at Scottish Government,
Area 2D Dockside, Victoria Quay,
Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ
or alternatively you can e-mail them at
buscomplaints@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
A large print version of this leaflet is available on request
There is a strict no smoking policy on all stagecoach services
nationwide bus times
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ANNUAL PERFORMANCE
Stagecoach West Scotland provides local bus services in the South
West of Scotland from Dumfries and Stranraer, throughout Ayrshire
and up as far as Greenock and Glasgow.
Our aim is to provide safe, reliable, punctual, clean and
comfortable services with a good value for money range of
tickets and fares.
This report covers the year from May 2009 to April 2010.
our staff
We are a major employer in the local
economy and employ around 800 drivers, 300
engineers and cleaners and 100 administration,
supervisors and managerial staff. All our staff
are fully trained in their respective skills, with
the emphasis on passenger safety, comfort and
courtesy. Over the past year we have recruited
and trained 45 new drivers and 10 other staff.
57% of our drivers have achieved their SVQ
qualifications, and 450 of our drivers have
attended our customer service course in
the past year as part of their Certificate of
Professional Competence .
We employ 15 engineering apprentices from
within the local community providing training
and skills for our young people. All our staff
have the benefit of our Group pension scheme
with employer contributions.
our fleet
We operate a fleet of 470 buses and coaches.
In the past year we have invested £3.4m in 20
new vehicles, all of which are fully accessible
for the disabled and all of which meet the
latest Euro emission standards. As well as easy
access these new vehicles are fitted with CCTV
for customer safety and security.
The Government requires all buses to be
wheelchair accessible by 2016.
We are well advanced with our ongoing fleet
modernisation, with 60% of our regular service
fleet now fully accessible (excluding school buses).
reliability
Reliability means ensuring that our passengers
can have a high degree of confidence that their
bus will turn up. Our target is to run 99.5%
of all scheduled journeys. In the past year we
planned to run some 1.8 million journeys over
23 million miles and we exceeded our target
“We operate a fleet of 470 buses and coaches. In the past year we have
invested £3.38m in 20 new vehicles, all of which are fully accessible for
the disabled and all of which meet the latest Euro emission standards.”
achieving 99.8%. We failed to operate 0.2% of
our scheduled mileage due to external factors
such as bad weather, road closures, traffic
congestion, etc and to internal factors such as
staff or vehicle failure.
punctuality
Punctuality means ensuring that your bus
will turn up on time. The standard set by our
regulator, the Traffic Commissioner, is that
95% of journeys should run no more than
1 minute early or 5 minutes late. Given the
unpredictability of road and traffic conditions
and the weather, this is very difficult to achieve,
and we spend a great deal of time and effort
in monitoring punctuality and adjusting
timetables. In the past year we monitored 6%
of scheduled journeys, and of these 96% ran
within the standard.
fares
We endeavour to provide value for money
fares, and to re-invest our profits in new
vehicles and equipment. In addition to our
standard single fares we offer unlimited
travel period tickets. Details of our Dayrider
and Megarider are published online at www.
stagecoachbus.com/western and you can now
save time by purchasing online.
We had a fares increase in April of
approximately 3% which meant that a single
fare of £1.50 increased to £1.55 and a £15
megarider increased to £15.45
customer satisfaction
In the past year 32 million passengers travelled
on our services. In particular, the number of
elderly and disabled passengers enjoying free
travel has continued to increase.
Overall there has been a slight decrease in
passenger volume with the recession being
the main reason for fewer people travelling by
bus, however areas like Irvine and Kilmarnock
continue to experience increase in passenger
numbers and express services have also
sustained passenger growth.
Despite our best efforts, unfortunately we
sometimes give cause for complaint. In the past
year we received 778 complaints, representing
one in every 29,000 passenger trips which was a
3% decrease from the previous year.
our achievements
Over the past year we have revamped our local
services in Ayr and Irvine and are planning
further improvements in other local areas.
Our groundbreaking environmental initiative
The Biobus has, this year, won a further three
awards and in April 2010 we launched 9 brand
new Biobuses.
Local networks in Irvine and Kilmarnock have
flourished year on year and our Ayrshire Express
network has carried 8% more passengers.
our community
We are a major employer in the local
community and we enable thousands of people
to go about their everyday activities. We are
actively involved with the local police and even
have our own mobile youth club ‘The Wee
Gee’ which this year received Transport Team
Partnership of the Year Award at the Scottish
Transport Awards. Our involvement with local
schools has increased with the high profile of
the Biobus and our commitment to recycling
and green issues. The Biobus has toured schools
and senior Stagecoach management have given
talks on environmental issues to schoolchildren
at primary and secondary level.
the environment
One of the greatest threats to society is global
warming and climate change. In the UK
transport causes some 22% of all emissions,
the majority of which is caused by the private
car. Public transport has the ability to reduce
pollution and congestion, and to improve our
environment, because the CO2 per passenger
kilometer on public transport is much lower
than if we all travel separately by car. However,
bus and coach diesel engines are also polluters.
All new vehicles must comply with the latest
Euro engine emission standards, which have
become more demanding in recent years (Euro
2 in 1997, Euro 3 in 2001, Euro 4 in 2006, Euro
5 in 2009). Of our 470 fleet, 49% now comply
with Euro 3 standard or higher. All our vehicles
run on Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) with 5%
bio content, and in addition we use a high-tech
fuel additive Envirox to further reduce fuel
consumption and emissions. The Biobus, of
course, runs on 100% biofuel from sustainable
sources such as recycled cooking oil. In addition,
we have invested in high-tech equipment to
manage energy use in our depots, we purchase
most of our electricity from renewable sources,
and we recycle over 50% of our waste. In the
local depots the amount of recycling we do has
cut our waste disposal bills by 50%.
www.stagecoachbus.com
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