The man who runs the buses in Bristol has told Bristol Live he’s ‘not interested in buses’ - on the first anniversary of taking on the job.
But Doug Claringbold’s apparently startling admission was said in the context of the future of public transport in Bristol - and the two big debates in the city, around a mass transit system, and who should be running public transport. A year exactly into the job, and with a rollercoaster of driver shortages and Covid, Mr Claringbold spoke to Bristol Live about his vision for the future of public transport in the city, and how it might differ from the politicians.
On Tuesday, Bristol Live reported Mr Claringbold outlining the extent of the driver shortage that had hit First Bus West of England and left them unable to run enough buses to keep to the timetable in wide parts of the city. Back in the autumn, with HGV driver agencies recruiting bus drivers from outside depots and the city’s main bus station, First Bus’s existing driver shortage - caused by Brexit and the pandemic - suddenly got rapidly worse.
