Plymouth Park & Ride service for Fireworks ^ Tuesday 18 August
We^ve received a few complaints about our service delivery last night. While we don^t wish to make excuses (we know there were a number of issues) we would like to try and explain a bit further, and of course say sorry.
Following the sale of the Devon business, a number of staff members who would have covered these extra evening services have left (when the extra bus trips were registered we weren^t aware of the sale). We^ve done our best to find other staff to cover the trips (and keep within driving hours regulations) but have struggled. Not good enough we know but we^re trying to be honest. Those who did volunteer were just that ^volunteers^ most were not getting paid to drive or supervise. Customers who were there will have seen that our staff had to deal with a minor few who were very rude spitting and swearing at them ^ we appreciate that people were angry and tired but there is never an excuse for such abuse. There were also instances of queue jumping which our staff did their best to deal with; again when the actions of a very few start to get threatening the safety of our staff is important to us. Of course the majority of our passengers were ^ although understandably frustrated ^ tolerant and polite and we thank them for their patience.
Lastly with the weather being so good last night (and forecast to be still raining this evening) it also meant that there were a lot more people attending last night than we would have expected.
We are very grateful to Citybus who helped clear the big queues at the end of the evening (and they have, naturally, sent us their invoice!)
So once again we apologise for how long it took to get you home last night. And hopefully this evening will run more smoothly ^ if a little wetter!
interesting post from first devon on there facebook page I knew there was lots of people waiting for the busses but did not think it was that bad when I left on my bus back home!