Really Good Service Awards 2006
Dawn is on top!

Nottingham’s Crowne Plaza Hotel was rocked by applause as an almost speechless Dawn Jowett from rainbow 1 was declared 2006 Driver of the Year.
In a celebration of top-flight customer service, all Drivers of the Month for 2006, Commendation Winners, short-listed award winners and their guests came together at the Crowne Plaza for the gala dinner and awards ceremony on Wednesday April 25th.  The event was hosted by celebrated comedian and TV star Tom O’Connor, making his third appearance as our guest presenter.

After dinner and drinks, the Spotlights fell on this year’s award winners.

Depot of the Year
This new award is sponsored by Belmont International, a much-respected name in the bus industry, thanks to their good work in insurance and financial services.  The cup will be awarded every year to the depot whose performance in really good customer service comes top of the list with everything taken into account, such as fewest complaints, and best overall scores for service delivery and audits. Phil White from Belmont had made the long journey to Nottingham to present the award. 

The first sealed envelope was opened to reveal Broadmarsh as the first holders of the new title. Our pictures show the team celebrating the occasion at Broadmarsh the next morning.

Outstanding AchievementCustomer Services Manager Josie Horrobin then came to the stage to present the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Awards, for customer service above and beyond the call of duty.

Shortlisted were Neil Hutsby and Jay Keily from Langley Mill, Anne Burley from Matlock, Alwyn Partridge from Broadmarsh and Kevin Wood of Sutton.
   
A customer’s wife was taken ill on Anne’s sixes bus on so she promptly drove to the nearest Doctor’s surgery and summoned help.
       
Neil took a lady passenger home in his own car after she had fallen asleep on a late night rainbow 1 bus. 

Jay has been praised for lending his phone and umbrella to amberline customers after a bus breakdown, for stopping to help a lady who had fallen on the pavement and for helping a partially sighted lady across the road.

Alwyn parked the bus at the Cropwell Bishop terminus and drove a customer who needed to go to the next village right to the door in his own car – even carrying her bags!

An elderly lady suffered a memory lapse on Kevin’s 241.  He spotted the danger signs, managed to telephone her daughter and made arrangements to stay with the customer until she could be met at Mansfield.

Tom O’Connor then announced Alwyn Partridge as highly commended, Jay Keily as runner up and Anne Burley as this year’s winner.

Award of Merit
This award recognises work that goes on behind the scenes but directly benefits trent barton travellers in a particular way. 

Shortlisted this year were the Heanor-based Schedules team David Dobb and Richard Sherratt for their unending hard work behind the scenes; Geoff Maycock from the Meadow Rd engineering team who gets the job done despite hardly being able to walk thanks to a knee problem, and to Dove Holes fitter-in-charge Roy Williamson for keeping the show on the road despite the notorious Peak District climate and the notorious A6.

Roy Williamson was declared this year’s winner. Sadly he was unable to make it to Nottingham, so Operations Manager Dave Williams picked up the trophy for him.

Driver of the Year
Just minutes away from the announcement of Driver of the Year, there was a roll call and applause for the drivers of the month who were in close contention for the £1,000 top prize:  The roll call included no fewer than four rainbow 1 drivers – Robert Felstead, Maggie Fox, Brenda Haywood and Dawn Jowett – whilst Eric Leverton (23 and 27), Lee Morrell (amberline) and Ian Grebby (21) had also taken the trophy for Langley Mill in 2006 – eight times in all, since Ian was winner in April and September.

Driver Controller George Crook from Dove Holes won the July title while driving transpeak.  From Broadmarsh Stuart Guthrie drives rainbow 4 and Trish Hallam is on rainbow 5. Clive Potts of red arrow fame completed the line up.

This year things were so close that there was a dead heat for the Highly Commended prize – Ian Grebby and Eric Leverton both taking the honours. Both are very well known names in the Driver of the Year competition.

Twice driver of the year and 2005 runner-up Maggie Fox was a delighted runner up. Maggie’s record of success is now twice winner and twice runner-up!

Tumultuous applause greeted Dawn Jowett for her fantastic victory in such a highly competitive Driver of the Year contest.  Dawn joined us last September and won the Driver of the Month title in December. Her three-part prize consisted of the Trophy, a £1,000 holiday voucher and an extra day’s paid leave every year.

The Mystery Traveller who rode on every Driver of the Month’s bus as part of the judging process described Dawn’s work in the most glowing terms:-

This superb driver made every customer feel valued and welcome.  Not only did Dawn find time for a friendly or helpful word with just about everyone, she also waited for running customers and provided really helpful responses to people’s questions.  And on top of all that, she still managed to provide a relaxing, really smooth and punctual ride. This was a star performance in every way.

And meanwhile…
2007 contest well underway

Andy Cartwright from Broadmarsh and Linda Morrell of Langley Mill closed the first quarter of 2007 by taking the certificates and £100 cheques for Driver of the Month in February and March.  The Morrell name features in all three months of the year, since Linda also had a commendation in January and husband Lee took his second in close succession in February!

Five other Langley Mill drivers were commended in February – Dave Magee, Glyn Whaley, Stuart Bent, Mark Scott and Paul Critchlow.  Stuart’s is his second certificate since November, and Paul went on to make it a double with his commendation in March.

Tony Collins of Sutton added another commendation to his name in February, during which month Steve Loakes from Broadmarsh was also successful.

Tony Crofts of Hucknall completes our hall of fame thanks to his commendation in March.

All are already on the guest list for next year’s really good service awards.

New bus lane is the business
Motorists say they’ll use the bus more

New independent research on the sixes using Derby’s latest bus lane on Duffield Road shows just how popular it is with bus travellers – even although some diehard motorists are still upset by it.

Research and Marketing Associates polled over 200 sixes customers in March just a few weeks after it was introduced.

88% said it made their journey quicker. Four people out of every ten could have used a car instead – and nearly half of them said they were likely to use the sixes more thanks to the bus lane.  This shows how effective bus priority measures can be in persuading people to switch from car to bus.

Another surprise result – when asked what they’d like us to do to make the sixes even better (including discounts, extra frequency, improved shelters, air-conditioning) – the top vote went to putting in still MORE bus lanes.

Brand Manager of the sixes, Brian Reaney, said:

“This entirely supports what people are saying to me on the bus.  They love the new bus lane because it has really improved their regular journey to town.  Everyone on my team is right behind it because it has taken a lot of stress and uncertainty out of rush-hour on the sixes.

“So it’s no surprise that people are eager to see the bus lane made permanent.  There is a petition going around now and no shortage of bus customers to sign it”.

Meanwhile there is still resistance from some Darley Abbey residents who seem unable to come to terms with the idea of bus passengers having an easier journey into town.

“Some of the claims are quite entertaining” continued Brian, “such as the one that the bus lane was responsible for a vehicle running into the back of a car trying to pass an illegally-parked van on the other side of the road.  You can’t help but think that the campaigners are shooting themselves in the foot”.

“Another protester now travels by bus. He complained that double yellow lines introduced to accommodate the bus lane mean that he can’t park on the road anymore and has to use the bus!”

Life can be so cruel.

Stranger in the bus lane

So much better is the Darley Abbey approach to Derby for buses in the morning peak, that red arrow drivers are now taking advantage of it for the benefit of customers using the express coach service from Chesterfield.

Instead of stewing in tail backs on Alfreton Road, it didn’t take the red arrow crew long to realise that they could make neater work of it by nipping around the ring road and in along the new bus lane. The journey is a little longer but much faster. Sorted!

83 bus lane drivers fined
 
In just one April afternoon more than 80 people were fined in a two-hour police crackdown on drivers illegally using bus lanes.  Between 4pm and 6pm, Notts police gave 83 drivers £30 fixed penalty notices.  A car was confiscated as the driver had no insurance.  The operation is due to be repeated in different areas and is the latest in a series along city 'gateways' connected to the Respect for Transport campaign.

Interviewed by the Nottingham Evening Post, PC Derek Pickering, beat manager for Notts transport network, said: "It's worrying to think that this many people are blatantly breaking the law."

red arrow change forced by traffic
‘We lose whatever we do’

INCREASING traffic congestion is about to lead to red arrow express coaches having fewer stops between Derby and Chesterfield.

The uncompromising reason why so many customers use the coaches is speed and directness.

But more and more cars are now using the red arrow route – the A38 and A61 - in order to avoid snarl-ups on the M1 – and SatNav is making that even worse.  This has inevitably led to more delays for us.

So unfortunately, from Sunday June 3rd, there will be fewer stops and we will no longer call at Swanwick.

We warned three years ago in letters to Derbyshire County Council that the northern timetable of red arrow was unsustainable in the long term unless buses and coaches were given priority. There is no sign of any assistance to keep the coaches on time.

Now complaints are coming in from customers who say they will stop using red arrow unless we can guarantee better timekeeping. Drivers from the team have pooled their experience to help create the latest timetable, which re-distributes running time, retimes some journeys completely, takes out thirteen stops between Derby and Chesterfield and switches to the A38 by pass instead of stopping at Swanwick – all to save precious seconds.

Commercial Director Ian Morgan said:

“This is a hugely frustrating lose-lose situation because of the traffic jams.  Either we carry fewer customers because of delays or we get back on time by cutting out stops.  The changes will inevitably not be to everyone’s liking.

“This sort of rearguard action is bound to recur with increasing severity if traffic increases.  We need to see constraints on car use and priorities for buses; but since neither seems to have very much political appeal - and look at all the fuss over one short bus lane on Duffield Road! - bus services are set to carry on suffering.

“We have worked hard to grow red arrow from scratch as a new brand and it is galling to be taking action which will turn away some customers.  But we lose whatever we do.”

He also pointed out that:

“Less than 10% of red arrow customers use the stops which will be withdrawn so the changes will benefit the overwhelming majority in whose interest we are obliged to act. Most of them will still have alternative (slower) bus services and others will be able to walk to a retained stop. Very few people will be left stranded”

Shuttle will rescue Clifton
Eleventh hour change of heart

The three month closure of Clifton Lane is to go ahead as announced in our last Newsletter, severing the Ruddington Connection between Ruddington and Clifton.  But after our hard campaign to rescue the situation, Nottinghamshire County Council and its contractor have agreed to fund a shuttle bus that will be provided during the closure – which may now be shorter than expected – to maintain the link between the villages.

Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell said:

“It’s better than we had to start with.  Our preferred option is still to keep routes open on a buses only basis.  This would encourage people to give the bus a try rather than drive people away from them when the going gets tough.  A closure like this can wipe out years of hard-won growth in just a few weeks.

“Our discussions with the County Council have raised the profile of roadworks and bus routes in general.  The authority has taken our comments on board and we hope that this will help prevent any further closures of this kind from getting past the planning stage”.

PC Cherryl steps in

Thursday April 19th was already a tough enough day on rainbow 5 and the 15 in Long Eaton thanks to traffic diverted by the A52 roadworks at Bardills roundabout.

But the town ground to a complete halt in the afternoon because a building on Derby Road was thought to be in danger of collapse.

rainbow 5 Brand Manager Cherryl Holland happened to be passing through.  She said:

“It was chaos.  Nobody was going anywhere and a lot of my buses were stuck in one place.  I managed to send some on a detour, but the Police were not diverting any traffic, they just closed the road and left people to their own devices. It soon reached gridlock.

“So I thought – I’m not having this.  I told one of the Officers who I was and offered to direct the traffic out of the way so that the buses could keep running.  I then spent the next 3 hours on Point Duty.

“A surveyor declared the situation safe at just before 5pm and so we gradually got things back to normal”

All in a day’s work for PC Holland – without whose help, a lot of road users and bus customers would have suffered far greater delay.

It’s a bus, Jim, but not as we know it…

The new buses on the new look Black Cat and X38 are more like a High Street coffee shop than buses as we know them – thanks to a top London design house.

The interior features of our newly-delivered ‘Tempo’ buses from Leeds-based Optare feature a striking wood-effect floor, leather seats and top-to-bottom new style of interior design.

Ray Stenning of Best Impressions worked with our marketing team to create the new look.  When Transit magazine caught up with him recently, he explained:

“We really wanted to push the boat out with the interior and make something of it.  Far too often operators leave bus interiors as an afterthought.

“The bus is a form of retail, so we wanted to match retail sector standards.  We have tried to incorporate some of the ambience and atmosphere of a coffee shop like Caffe Nero.

“At our instigation, Optare have even remoulded the window supports and used finishes which help create a much smoother and aesthetic appearance”.

The new Tempos also have Euro 4 engines which use a chemical process to cut exhaust emission levels still further. Two are deployed on the recently-doubled X38 between Derby and Burton, and the latest four have just entered service on Black Cat, between Derby, Ilkeston, Heanor and Mansfield.

Midland Classic deal rescues hospital visitors

Patients and visitors to the Burton Queen’s Hospital can now once again make the journey by bus from Hatton, Rolleston and Tutbury, thanks to a new transfer deal with Swadlincote-based Midland Classic.

The agreement was clinched by Villager Brand Manager Adrian Cadd after letters appeared in the Burton Mail from passengers unable to get to the Hospital following Arriva’s decision to withdraw their direct bus.

Now they can catch the Villager and transfer to Midland Classic’s 21 route at Stretton – avoiding Burton’s Town Centre traffic into the bargain. Each operator will accept the other’s tickets so there is no need to pay again.

Adrian (left) is pictured with Midland Classic’s founder and Managing Director, James Boddice.

Half a million a month…
The trent barton website is now so popular that it attracts close to half a million visitors per month – but why Fridays should be the busiest day by far remains a mystery.

There were almost 444,000 hits on our website in the month of March.
Afternoons are the busiest time and there is heavy usage starting at 3pm through to 7pm every weekday.  The busiest hour is 4 to 5pm. Mind you, there are also close to two hundred a day between 1 and 3am!

Our new mapping system is attracting a lot of attention (you can use our Google route mapping to home in on your nearest stop and get your bus times there and then).  Timetables get the most hits and there is also heavy use of the latest news and updates sections.

15,000 hits per day is the rule – except on Fridays, when it is nearly 25% higher.  This is a bit of a mystery – can anyone suggest why?

NVQ Successes
Congratulations to Alan Johnson, Stephen Whysall and Jason Radford (all from Langley Mill), David Lee from Derby and Michael Howes from Dove Holes on achieving their National Vocational Qualification.  They are pictured receiving their certificates from Commercial Director Ian Morgan.

Well done Ian and Linda
Ian Hanlon of Dove Holes has been praised by a regular Skyline customer for his patience and good humour when he spotted her on the other side of the road.  When that road happens to be the A6, it’s anybody’s guess how long it might take to cross!

And Langley Mill’s Linda Morrell (see above) has received a smashing letter from a customer whose son travels with her in his wheelchair.  She says what a delight it is to travel on Linda’s bus and praises her cheery and polite style with all customers.

Greedy bus operators?  Come off it!
Derbyshire councillors score own goal

It seems that politicians in Derbyshire don’t understand what’s going on with concessionary fares.

Statements issued by Derbyshire and Derby City Councillors have blamed ‘greedy bus operators’ for the cancellation of half fare travel for Gold Card holders before 9.30am.

Ian Morgan, trent barton’s Commercial Director said:

“This is just plain wrong – and it’s a political own-goal.

“The free concessionary travel schemes were announced in a hurry by Government and our sympathies have been with the local authorities who have been left to sort out the funding.

“But we were as surprised as anyone else when out of the blue Derbyshire issued formal instruction to operators to charge full fare for Gold Card before 9.30am.  If they thought we were being greedy – why did they decide to do that?  It does nothing much to help anyone.

“In Derbyshire, Gold Card travel has increased by over 40% - that’s 1½ million trips a year.  This has stolen seats straight out from under other farepayers and taken away our scope for growth.  It’s not hard to see why the County’s offer of an 8% increase in payment to operators is way short of the mark.

“Negotiations between us at senior level have been amicable and constructive.  We understand the position that the councils have found themselves in through no fault of their own, and we are using the laid down procedure to secure an independent review of the amounts being paid to us.

“So it is disappointing that some misinformed councillors have tried to score a few points on the cheap, but it will not undermine our view that it is Government, not the local authorities, who have created the problem”.