Bosses at First Bus have apologised to passengers in Bristol for the poor service - and said it is because they have so many drivers off with Covid-19.
First Bus said they are trying to get as many drivers in buses and on the road in Bristol, but the impact of covid in the depots is having a knock-on effect on the level of service being provided.
First has announced more cuts to bus services from April 24 - with 11 routes affected - and said that was being done to ensure they at least remain reliable.
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But the message from First Bus is for passengers to be patient. A spokesperson said they were doing ‘everything we can to mitigate this unusual set of circumstances’. First Bus initially raised the issue that they had a severe driver shortage being exacerbated by covid back in the second week of March, but now said the situation has worsened.
A spokesperson for First West of England said: “Similar to many other organisations, we are currently experiencing an unusually high rate of sickness due to Covid and therefore absence within the business.
“This is, of course, having a knock on effect on the reliability of the service we can currently provide to our customers. We have as many drivers on the road as possible but there will inevitably be some impact on some services and we want to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this may be causing.
“We have just announced some significant changes to our scheduled services that will come into place on 24 April in order to ensure as reliable a service as possible and minimise disruption,” he added.
First said downloading the First App was the best way to find out if an expected bus had been cancelled, but the information would also hopefully be on the digital displays at the bus stop.
“If you download the First App this will tell you if a service is cancelled and when you might expect the next one. This information should also appear on the Real Time Information boards at stops,” he said. “We appreciate your patience and be assured we are doing everything we can to mitigate this unusual set of circumstances.”
A total of 11 services across Bristol were being cut down - with the frequency of buses reduced. Five of the services are cross-city services from north to south, four are routes in to the city centre from east Bristol, one is a bus from South Bristol into the city centre, and one is the bus from the city centre to UWE at Frenchay.
The full details of the service changes from April 24, which were first revealed by Bristol Live in mid-March, are as follows:
- Service 1, Broomhill to Cribbs Causeway via Bristol City Centre. Monday to Friday off-peak and all day Saturday frequency will reduce from every 15 to every 20 minutes. Timetable coming soon
- Services 2 and 2a between Cribbs Causeway (Brentry for Service 2a) and Stockwood via Bristol City Centre. Monday to Friday off-peak and all day Saturday frequency on both services will reduce from every 30 to every 40 minutes, resulting in a 20 minute frequency on the common sections of route.
- Services 44 and 45, Bristol City Centre to Cadbury Heath/Cherry Gardens. Monday to Friday off-peak frequency will be reduced from every 20 to every 30 minutes and some poorly used early morning and weekend journeys will be withdrawn.
- Services 48 and 49, Bristol City Centre to Emersons Green/Lyde Green. Sunday frequency will be reduced from every 20 to every 30 minutes and some early poorly used morning and weekend journeys will be withdrawn.
- Service 70, Bristol City Centre to UWE Frenchay Campus. Monday to Friday off-peak frequency will reduced from every 20 to every 30 minutes.
- Services 75 and 76, Hengrove to Henbury/Cribbs Causeway. Saturday frequency will reduce from every 15 to every 20 minutes, whilst Sunday frequency will reduce from every 20 to every 30 minutes.
- Service 90, Bristol City Centre to Hengrove. Monday to Friday frequency will be reduced from every 15 to every 20 minutes.
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