There has been an "erosion of confidence" in Translink's Metro service because of passengers facing too many cancelled buses, a Green Party councillor has warned.
Áine Groogan said there is a "growing frustration" with the Belfast city bus services over the last month to six weeks.
The councillor said she and many others have experienced a "notable increase in cancelled services at bus stops and services disappearing from the boards as they become due".
Read more: Translink issues 4,500 fines for fare dodging on Belfast Glider and NI rail services
The Botanic area representative called on Translink to provide "better communication with passengers about what is going on".
Translink said the vast majority of Metro services have been punctual and reliable, but there have some journey cancellations due to issues including driver availability and congestion.
The public transport operator apologised for any inconvenience caused to passengers and said steps are being taken to address the problems.
Ms Groogan told Belfast Live: "From my own experience and talking to people right across this city, there is a growing frustration with Metro services over the last month to six weeks.
"There's been a notable increase in cancelled services at bus stops and services disappearing from the boards as they become due.
"We're trying to encourage people to leave the car at home and use the bus but people need a reliable public transport system in order to do that, and unfortunately I've seen an erosion of confidence in Translink's ability to provide that in recent weeks.
"I've been speaking with Translink about the problems they are experiencing and I have sympathy with the pressures they are currently under but I've been pressing them for better communication with passengers about what is going on."
Ms Groogan added: "It's not okay to have people sitting waiting at one stop for a bus that doesn't come, another one that's cancelled and left hoping the third one shows up as I know has been happening.
"A lot of the frustration is coming from simply not knowing what is going on with the service as the boards at bus stops or the customer service team don't have the information to hand about service disruptions, so I've asked Translink to look at this to make sure that accurate and up-to-date information is being passed on to passengers as early as possible."
The councillor described Translink recruiting more bus drivers as a "positive step in addressing some of these problems" and encouraged people to consider applying for the roles.
A Translink spokeswoman said: "Translink operate around 6,000 Metro services every day to a high standard of punctuality and reliability, the reliability percentage for August stands at 97%. This is supported by recent independent research showing over 90% of Metro users are satisfied with their recent journey.
"With the return of the busy school traffic, there have been some journey cancellations on Metro for various reasons including driver availability, congestion and other road traffic issues outside our control.
"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We are monitoring this and taking steps to minimise the overall impact caused for our customers. We have recruited 130 new bus drivers in recent months to manage the introduction of the September timetables.
"Passengers are advised to use the journey planner to get the most up-to-date timetable information."
READ NEXT:
- Stormont 'passing the buck' on concerns over major traffic junction at Ulster University Belfast campus
- Translink issues 4,500 fines for fare dodging on Belfast Glider and NI rail services
- Belfast investment and housing plans at risk due to struggling sewerage system, MLA warns
- Cost to public of Translink's new logo design revealed
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
