More people are complaining about inaccurate live waiting times for buses across Brighton and Hove.
Passengers have reported buses not turning up, services being cancelled at the last minute and inaccurate “next bus” times on departure boards and on the Brighton and Hove Buses app.
Brighton and Hove Buses said that many of these issues were the result of staff shortages which the company was working hard to rectify.
Hanover resident Nikki Harper said that she wanted to catch a bus to an appointment from a stop by Sainsbury’s, in Lewes Road, last week on Monday 14 August.
The app said that the bus was due in eight minutes but no bus arrived. Ms Harper said: “In the end, I waited half an hour and then went home, missing my appointment, and having a 45-minute round trip.
“I understand they are short of drivers. However, that wasn’t my issue. If the app hadn’t shown the bus, I wouldn’t have left home and would have cancelled my plans.”
Bevendean resident Angie Cook had to ask the bus company whether any more buses were coming yesterday evening (Monday 21 August).
She was prompted by a call from her daughter who said that the 48 bus to Bevendean had stopped appearing on the live departure boards in the centre of Brighton.
Ms Cook said: “I rung them at 8.53pm on Monday evening and that is when they informed me there would be no more 48s running for rest of the evening so the service had been completely cut.
“I had to go and meet my daughter and walk back home with her as she is 15.
“After my phone call to the bus company last night, they did then put a service update notice on their bus app at 9.01pm ,but it just read there could be service disruptions on some services but not actually stating that the 48 service had been pulled.”
When asked how the live waiting times on departure boards and apps work, Brighton and Hove Buses said: “A signal is sent from the vehicle giving its position and how long it is via its timetable to when it should arrive at the stop.
“This is a mixture of GPS co-ordinates, distance and times. The boards should be correct the majority of the time. Inaccuracies can happen for many reasons.
“There have been many diversions recently (Royal Albion, Western Road, etc) which lead to inaccuracies on the screens for diverted routes. However we do put out alerts out to these delays.
“Additionally inaccuracies can occur when buses are taken off of routes. This can happen for many reasons, for example, if a passenger is taken unwell, and boards will be affected when incidents occur.
“Again, we try to rectify the information on the boards as quickly as possible and alert passengers to changes via our social and web channels.
“The purpose of the screens is to show ‘next bus’ arrival. If we list cancelled buses, this will take up valuable space on the boards, which are small, where we should be showing the wait times for the next buses.
“This is particularly important at bus stops served by multiple routes.”
In Bevendean, the 48 bus is also experiencing delays and diversions while a road is resurfaced, with work scheduled from 8.30am to 5pm every day.
An upcoming public meeting in Bevendean will give residents a chance to voice their frustrations about the service to bus company boss Ed Wills.
The public meeting, organised by Councillor Jacob Taylor, is at 6.30pm on Thursday 31 August at the Holy Nativity Church hall, in Norwich Drive.
WELL SOME TIME THE 12 ARE LATE TO YOU KNOW THS IS A VERY BUSY BUS COMPACT YOU KNOW DEIVERS CAN NOT USE TRUN UP FOR ONE PERSON you need you have a seriously amount of people on a bus to make the bus come
Grammaticaly incorrect?
Ungrammatical, is the grammatical word to use.
Ultimately, these boards are there to give an estimate to when the buses are due to appear with the added bonus of informing people when a bus is going to take longer than anticipated. There’s nothing useful that is going to come out of complaining about the signage, so personally I see it as a waste of energy.
Would you say the same is this was a railway company and they rang a schedule that was just a guesstimate?
There is a bus srrvicr schedule, and this system is to allow customers to know when a bus will arrive.
That Brighton and Hove Buses feel free to cancel buses or transfer to other routes whenever they want just discourages their use unless, of course, you only travel for leisure.
Because bus number 7 did not arrive on time or did not arrive at all, my husband had to sleep at workplace a few times as he finished his job late, he was too tired to walk 1 hour back home…
I travel from work the same bus, it happened to me many times too.I had to spend another 30-40 minutes waiting for next bus.
It is highly annoying as I finish my work late, I don’t have a chance to come back home on time to my daughter and my dogs, many times I did not have chance to have a family time after work and proper rest, because I reached home very late…I have pre- paid bus ticket so I cannot afford to extra pay calling taxi.
I hope a bus company will take responsibility to improve that situation for my people who are using their service!
I agree with you people rely on these boards and how much did it cost to install the system if its not going to work well then it was a waste of money.
My issue is that there is not a single bus apart from the 2 that only gets as far as Rottingdean, that runs from the east to west of the city. If you are disabled it’s really hard as you nearly always would have to change buses and get to another bus stop as well. But we can send buses to other towns in East and West Sussex and even Kent but not across the city.
Absolutely Peter, because, if one looks closely, a train and a bus are two different things. Strawmanning in this way is not very articulate, even by your usual standards. I feel condescending even pointing out that trains and buses run in fundamentally different ways. Really Peter, can you please do better?
Bring back Roger French fries
The mobile app is more reliable than these boards.
I do agree they’re just a guide though
Maybe some routes are better than others but No 27 (Dyke road route) is dreadful . The other day trying to get home there were none ! So had to get one and get off at the dials and walk home . No wonder people are reluctant to rely on public transport for work etc I was late for a dentist app and was charged £30 due to bus being really late and then 2 coming at once . .
I personally know 2 drivers who quit in the last 2 months due to nothing more than toxic management. So maybe time to have a clear out at that level and they will have better retention
I liked Roger French. They should bring him back to oversee it…. like they do with the police and the PCC
A couple of weeks ago I was returning from Kemp Town by bus and waited, and waited, for the number 7 bus, only to find that the first two that came along were already full up, while two other buses were out of service. Following the timetable was pointless. In the end I walked into the centre of Brighton, where I had a choice of buses. And I regretted not driving there and back.
You have a choice of buses in Kemptown. Your story makes little sense.
Brighton Buses response regarding the purpose of live screens is to show the ‘next bus’ arrival. Yes Brighton buses that is exactly the point it’s not !! We are there looking at that the live screens expecting that next bus to arrival and it does not. Yes there is much needed resurfacing work happening on the roads in Bevendean. This is planned and scheduled work and this has nothing to do with the on going bus service problems residents of Bevendean are contending with. As you have stated the resurfacing work stops around 5pm so you pulling much needed bus services after this time is a buses operations issue.
The system is broken, with no sign of its being repaired. the other day I had to wait at seven dials for forty-five minutes for a 7. I have given up using that route.
Were have the people of Hove been for the past 5 years. I have been in regular contact with the company by e mail for longer than that. Here are some of my complaints.
Total lack or inadequate information on the screens.
Buses showing up on screen the disappearing off screen just when they were about to show up.
Bus company app also gives out incorrect information
Bus cancellation effecting the lives of disabled passengers.
Buses running “light” being ordered to drive past stops to make up time, leaving passengers stranded.
Continually getting limp apologise about the lack of drivers, only to find out from other drivers that the company had sacked 7 drivers that week.
Finally.
Young people having to wait over 40 mins for a bus to get home from school.
Hard copies of my e mails are available if you wish to see them.
Paul Lowry (a Disabled passenger.)
You are confusing the sign with the bus service. If the sign says the bus is 8 minutes away then it is 8 minutes travel time away and would usually arrive in 8 minutes however if it stops at that point it will remain 8 minutes away and if it is put out of service or diverted it will disappear off the screen. The sign is correct, it is the bus service that is the problem.
I’m glad someone gets it, Alex.
Yes there is a real problem with driver shortages, over 150 at last count
Shame they can no longer recruit the hard working European drivers of yesteryear
I suppose waiting longer for a bus is what is ment by your brevity bonus
Don’t you just love predictive texts
Mentioned to say ” waiting for a bus is your brexit bonus”
“Real Time Bus Boards Misunderstood By Angry Residents.”