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First Glasgow customers amongst the most satisfied bus users in the UK

Posted: 27 March 2014 | First | No comments yet

The results of a national bus passenger survey published by independent consumer organisation, Passenger Focus, have revealed that First Glasgow customers are amongst the most satisfied in the UK…

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The results of a national bus passenger survey published by independent consumer organisation, Passenger Focus, have revealed that First Glasgow customers are amongst the most satisfied in the UK.

91% of First Glasgow passengers said that they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’, which is 3% higher than the UK average (passengers from 36 UK bus operators were surveyed – only six scored higher than First Glasgow).

Passenger Focus’ ‘Bus Passenger Survey’ is considered the bus industry’s definitive gauge of passenger satisfaction. The First Glasgow survey was the biggest undertaken by Passenger Focus. It was carried out between 8 September and 1 December 2013 and more than 3,000 First Glasgow customers were interviewed.

“I’m delighted with these results,” said Managing Director of First Glasgow, Fiona Kerr. “They reflect the commitment, determination and capital that we’ve invested over the last 12 months to improve services for our customers. We’ve launched a brand new network, simpliCITY, which is performing well and providing customers with better and more frequent bus services; we’ve invested £24m in 151 brand new vehicles; and we are delivering services that are more punctual and reliable.

“Our actions and investment have undoubtedly helped deliver really encouraging customer satisfaction scores. The results are all the more significant given the continuing challenging economic environment that we’re operating in and ever increasing costs.”

She continued: “I’m especially encouraged that customers have responded positively to the improvements we implemented in the first six months of the year. The introduction in May 2013 of our new high frequency simpliCITY network has been highly successful. The survey shows that 30% of our customers feel that things are better as a result of the new network as well as other improvements we’ve made (46% said services were the same and just 7% said things were worse). I’m delighted that SimpliCITY is having a positive effect on passenger satisfaction.

“Our overarching strategy at First Glasgow is to encourage more people to travel on our services – and we have much more still to do. Indeed given the ambitious and exciting initiatives that we will roll out to further improve services over the coming 12 months, I’m confident that Passenger Focus will have another great First Glasgow customer satisfaction story to share next year.

First Glasgow Key Results

  • 91% of First Glasgow passengers said they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with their overall journey (the UK average is 88%)
  • 84% of First Glasgow passengers said they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with punctuality and time waiting for the bus (the UK average is 76%). Only four bus companies in the UK scored higher than First Glasgow in this category.
  • 89% of First Glasgow passengers said they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with on bus journey time (the UK average is 86%).
  • 71% of First Glasgow passengers said they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with value for money (10% higher than the UK average of 61%). Only three bus companies in the UK scored higher than First Glasgow in value for money.
  • Since the implementation of simpliCITY 30% of passengers said that their service was better (46% said services were the same and just 7% said things were worse).

To download Passenger Focus’ full Bus Passenger Survey report, visit: http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/research/bus-passenger-survey

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