Frustrated Bristol commuters say they keep being late to work due to buses passing them by at a busy stop. First Bus has been rolling out a raft of changes across the West of England since October 9, to offer a more reliable service.
However, there have since been complaints about school run chaos, and now about the impact on workers trying to get into the city centre during rush hour. Earlier this month First West of England issued a long statement to Bristol Live, detailing three key issues contributing to the disruption - traffic congestion, staff shortages and high staff sickness levels.
Among those impacted by the disruption is Darren Kitson, who often uses the metrobus stop at Begbrook. He says since September it has been especially busy in the mornings, with full buses often driving past without stopping.
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He said: "I've never been late to work in five years yet since the beginning of September but due to this, I have been late to work four or five times. It's really frustrating.
"I try to get to work early and at the Begbrook bus stop for about 7.50am-8am, but then every bus that goes past is full and they don't bother stopping (as the next stop is for the city centre). Then at around 8.30am finally you manage to catch one but by that time the M32 into the city centre is so busy it takes what should normally be a five-10 minute journey into a 20-30 minute journey even with the extended bus lane on the M32.
"I catch the bus every day as the parking charges in Bristol are so expensive, the only other affordable way of getting into the city is on the bus. Aren't we encouraged to use public transport to ease congestion? It seems the buses are congested themselves."
He said on one particular day he waited for 40 minutes before a bus with capacity came along. In response to his complaint, a First West of England spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to this customer who experienced issues with their journey and reassure them that we are looking carefully into this incident.
"Like the rest of the bus industry nationally, we are experiencing driver shortages which are affecting some services. However, we are doing everything we can to actively recruit new drivers and maintain a reliable network of services that supports our customers and our communities.”
'Ghost' buses
He said it's not just been the metrobus, nor just an issue with capacity. He described how the number 7 bus to Staple Hill has "ghosted" him in recent months too, failing to turn up despite showing on the app.
He said: "It would say on the app five minutes away and then all of a sudden it's cancelled. This came to a head a few weeks ago when I finished at the gym for about 6.30pm and no buses turned up at all. I eventually had to call my housemate in Kingswood to come and pick me up at 9pm from the bus stop.
"Imagine if I had been a vulnerable person, disabled, female or a younger male and had no other way of getting home - it's not acceptable. This is another reason I've started using the M1 and M3 service but I'm having to use my own car, fuel and extra money because the public transport is a let-down."
In mid September metrobus Bristol said it would put up additional M3 departures from UWE to Bristol at 8.20am and 8.40am, with a spokesperson on Twitter saying this "will provide extra capacity at Begbrook in the morning". That was in response to a mum who said her family had moved to Frenchay relying on the metrobus to get her daughter to school in the city centre - but who complaints that "the buses at Begbrook are always full".
Despite the promise of additional services, that has not put an end to the complaints. Last week another bus user tweeted: "Been waiting 20min at Begbrook for M1 or M2 to centre. M3 1850 didn't stop. What's the chances I'll actually be able to board a bus in the next hour?"
Another questioned: "@FirstBSA What are you going to do about the fact that for the last 4 years in October and November it has been all but impossible to board an m1 or an m3 southbound from Begbrook? They fill up at UWE and just drive past. I've noticed this pattern."
Earlier this month, in response to other complaints about the reliability of First Bus services in the West of England, a spokesperson for the company apologised and said roadworks and staff shortages had contributed to the disruption, revealing that they are 150 bus drivers short.
The spokesperson continued: "We are working hard to recruit more drivers. Driving a bus is a great career -many of our senior managers started as drivers. We offer a great package which includes flexible hours, competitive rates of pay, professional training (with pay), free bus travel for drivers and their families, High Street discounts and other benefits.
"We’ve also just opened brand-new, modern rest facilities for our drivers in the centre of Bristol. People are keen to become bus drivers and we are working to make that process as easy as possible.
"[More] roads in the city are expected to [re]open in a month’s time so we are expecting traffic congestion to ease. Once again, we’d like to apologise to our customers.
"We are hopeful that the situation will improve over the next couple of months. In the meantime, we would ask our customers to bear with us and, despite the understandable frustrations, be kind to our drivers.”
Have you experienced problems with buses in Bristol? Let us know in the comments below.
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