The ongoing shortage of bus drivers is being blamed for a decision to axe 75 journeys every week on the no. 73 route through Bradley Stoke.
Bus operator First West of England says the radical step, announced on Wednesday 16th November 2022 and effective immediately, is intended to help it deliver a “more reliable service” for customers.
The Cribbs Causeway to Temple Meads service is one of 19 affected across the Bristol area, with a total of almost 1,500 journeys being cancelled each week.
The cancelled journeys will show as ‘cancelled’ on the First Bus app, and on the real time information (RTI) screens at bus stops.
The move follows weeks of complaints about ‘ghost buses’, a term used to describe the situation where a bus is shown on the app and RTI screens as being “due in X minutes” only to then disappear without a bus actually arriving.
The company says it expects the cancellations to remain in place until at least the next major change to timetables on Sunday 2nd April 2023.
A spokesperson for First said:
“We are doing our utmost to address the driver shortage but doing so will inevitably take some time.”
“We regret having to do this as we appreciate it will cause some disruption, but by giving customers advance notice of cancellations rather than having to learn of them on the day, we want to make it easier for travel plans to be adjusted. Cancelling these journeys in advance also enables our operations teams to focus on delivering a more reliable service for our customers, rather than dealing with cancelling journeys on the day.”
“We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding as we manage this difficult situation.”
Passengers are advised to continue to check the First Bus app for up-to-date service information.
Cancelled journeys (service 73)
Leaving Cribbs Causeway
| Day | Departure time |
|---|---|
| Mon-Fri | 0535, 0751, 1232, 1722 |
| Sat | 0500, 0730, 1010, 1310, 1610, 1915, 2200 |
| Sun | 0740, 1010, 1310, 1610, 1900, 2200 |
Most of these cancellations result in there being an approximately one-hour gap between the remaining journeys before and after the cancelled one. For example, the cancellation of the 0751 Mon-Fri journey means that there is a 60-minute gap in departures from the Willow Brook Centre towards Bristol between 0743 and 0843.
Leaving Temple Meads
| Day | Departure time |
|---|---|
| Mon-Fri | 0640, 0925, 1110, 1355, 1550, 1855 |
| Sat | 0620, 0850, 1040, 1440, 1745, 2040 |
| Sun | 0840, 1140, 1440, 1740, 2040, 2340 |
Most of these cancellations result in there being an approximately one-hour gap between the remaining journeys before and after the cancelled one. For example, the cancellation of the 1550 Mon-Fri journey means that there is a 70-minute gap in departures from the Bristol City Centre (The Centre) towards Bradley Stoke between 1518 and 1628. Note that there are two other departures within this time window (1538 & 1613), but these only go as far as Bristol Parkway.
Metro mayor
Speaking on BBC Points West, metro mayor Dan Norris, who heads the West of England Combined Authority, said:
“I’m hugely disappointed because I would hope that First Bus would let me know [in advance] of a significant change.”
“But much more importantly, that they would have let the public know with some notice – because this impacts in a big way on people’s daily lives.”
“So I think at least out of courtesy they could say that they were ‘contemplating’ this rather than just ‘announce’ it.”
In a press statement, Mr Norris added:
“I understand the dilemma that operators like First find themselves in. This is down to the severe bus driver shortage.”
“I’ve always said when it comes to the buses, we need to make big choices – how do we deploy the limited numbers of bus drivers in the region?”
“I know the frustration when the bus you are expecting doesn’t turn up. One choice when using the limited pool of drivers is fewer buses but more reliable ones. Most people I meet tend to pick reliability over regularity.”
“But this does need to work as we’ve been here before – when First and other companies say they need to do X or Y which will mean more reliable services, but those more reliable services not materialising. I genuinely hope these changes today sort this reliability issue through to April.”
“There is no short-term fix on drivers but I have invested in a big recruitment and training exercise to encourage people to drive buses. I know how important buses are to local people so please do consider a career change and be a real community hero.”
Passenger feedback
Passenger feedback on the 73 service, collated by North Bristol Press.
View the latest tweets about the 73 service in this collection on Twitter.
No journey cancellations have been announced for the M1 MetroBus service, although reports on social media indicate that this service has been equally affected by ‘ghost buses’, and overcrowding on the buses that do actually run. View the latest tweets in this collection on Twitter.
More information and related links
- Temporary Journey Cancellations due to ongoing driver shortages (First Bus)
- Bus Services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)
