READING Buses has celebrated making the top three in an annual survey of customer satisfaction of public transport.
The company’s operational area was third overall in the Your Bus Journey survey, an annual questionnaire that is compiled by the independent transport watchdog Transport Focus with many bus companies up and down the country taking part.
It compares benchmarks for a range of factors, such as punctuality, on-board amenities, journey times, value for money, and satisfaction with drivers and stops.
For Reading Buses, satisfaction with bus drivers rose to 92%, while punctuality rose a further 6% to 89%.
Waiting time satisfaction rose to 86%, up 3% from the previous year, while the on-board announcements were rated at 72%– a jump of 12 percentage points.
The company’s overall satisfaction improved to 92% from 89% last year and 86% the year before.
This was also a full seven percentage points higher than the national average.
Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer; “This is a huge endorsement for Reading Buses, its employees and our ethos of how we operate in the town.
“To see so many metrics improve is extremely heartening and helps confirm that what we are doing is the right thing.
“We put our customers and employees at the heart of everything we do to make buses a better choice for everyone.”
“We know our drivers are superstars, and once again the results show that our customers think that too.
“Getting direct customer feedback is always important, but it is especially pleasing when they notice all the hard work that has gone into making buses in Reading, and the surrounding area, more welcoming, useful and usable.
“We hope that results like this encourage more people to step out of their cars and try the bus – they will definitely be pleasantly surprised.”
The Your Bus Journey survey is part of Transport Focus.
More information is available via: transportfocus.org.uk
