Congratulations to First in Norfolk and Suffolk. Yes you read that right but I'll say it again anyway - congratulations to First in Norfolk and Suffolk, especially Suffolk. And Ipswich Buses.
I have spent the afternoon reading the Autumn 2013 national Bus Passenger Survey and surprising yet pleasant reading it has made. In "overall satisfaction with the bus journey made" Reading buses came top with 94%. Second equal were First Suffolk and Ipswich Buses with 93% which I think is a damn good achievement. First Norfolk and Norfolk Green came joint 13th with 89%.
However within First it was Suffolk top and Norfolk second. First Essex only scored 81%, for example and First Thurrock 79%. That is a feather in the cap for all the staff at First in Norfolk and Suffolk and you should be rewarded with many new quality non rattling buses! In our dreams!
There are many sub-sections in the survey, which I'll link to in a minute, but one that caught my eye was seat comfort. Regular readers will be sick and tired by now of me banging on about bum numbing seats but the figures do rather speak for themselves. In the survey, which by the way didn't include any Go-Ahead companies as there was apparently not enough data supplied, of the 5 local companies it was Norfolk Green who had the most comfortable seats with 84% liking them. Ipswich Buses came second with 81%. Then First rather lost with First Suffolk 71%, First Essex 65% and First Norfolk 63%. First in Greater Manchester and First in West of England Partnership both scored 79% which is unsurprising as those areas have had major investment recently.
If you like your stats this is a first rate survey. First have improved nationally compared to 2012 and it is good to see our local companies doing so well. However there is no room for complacency, and you are ony as good as your last survey! We all know what needs to be done and the improvements that need to be made so let's hope the companies take this survey seriously and look to improve on the areas they scored not as highly in.
The survey can be accessed here which will enable you to download the pdf version.
I'll add my congratulations. It's always possible to quibble with a survey if you want to, but many opinions always make for a better judgement. It may be that First have a good team in place in S&N; I hope that the national bosses realise it and see their job to support rather than undermine them. Old habits die hard, much harder than we think, too often. And it demands more than parroted rhetoric.
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