About Stagecoach West

Key facts May 2017 - April 2018

• 24.2 million passenger journeys 
• 12.8 million miles operate carrying customers on our network
• 270  buses operating about 100 different routes across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Swindon, South Gloucestershire,  Bristol and Herefordshire with some journeys extending into Wales and Oxfordshire. 
• 740 staff working across 6 depots located in Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Ross-on-Wye, Stroud and Swindon
• £2.5m investment on 10  brand new double decker Gold buses
• 86.1% service punctuality
• 99.3% service reliability

Follow us for service updates or customer service assistance: @Stagecoach_West

Our passengers 

We carried a total of 24.2 million passengers over the year, a decrease from the previous year. This was mainly due to a reduction in the number of concessionary passengers travelling by bus.

We received a total of 2,301 passenger complaints about our services equating to one complaint per 10,500 passengers which was an increase on the prior year. We comply with our  industry code of practice, and every complaint is investigated and  action taken to avoid repetition of the problem.

We received 230 commendations and praise for our drivers and members of staff - our largest number ever. 

Our staff 

We are a major local employer with about 600 drivers, 105 engineers and cleaners, and 55 supervisors, managers and clerical staff all based locally.

We continue to invest in training our staff. Every driver undertakes a training day to enable them to hold a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). The focus of these courses during the past 12 months has been on providing  service through safety.

We employ 7 apprentices to provide skills for the future. Our supervisors and  managers have all completed relevant training courses for their various  professions.

Our services 

We operated a total of 12.8 million miles over the year, an increase   of 2%   over the previous year.  

 Our key measure of performance is the reliability and punctuality of our services. In the past year we operated 99.3% of our scheduled services, with the largest reason for journeys not operating being weather (0.3%) and congestion (0.2%). We monitor every single bus and every journey using our real time tracking system. 90.7% of journeys started on time with 85.0%  of services being on time during the journey.

We continue to seek improvements by rescheduling services and through ongoing improvements with our local highway  authorities.  Unpredictable traffic congestion has a significant impact on our punctuality and reliability, particularly between September and December 2017. 

We have made further improvements to services over the past year including the introduction of 10 new British built Gold specification ADL E400 double deckers for service 55 which links Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett and Chippenham.   During the year we also opened a new depot in Bristol in September 2017 following an increase in the number of routes that we operate into Bristol and South Gloucestershire during 2016. From this location we operate 8 routes in and around Bristol and South Gloucestershire using 16 buses and created 35 new locally based jobs. 

Our fares 

We   increased   fare in February 2018 by an average of 3%, which was to   cover our increased costs of pay and insurance, whilst providing for further investment in new vehicles,   plant and equipment.

Our Fleet

We operate a fleet of 270 buses and coaches, of which we replaced  10 over the past year with a total investment of about £2.5 million. 100 % of our fleet  are low floor or wheelchair lift equipped to provide easy access for the elderly,  disabled and buggies.

All of our vehicles are inspected by our engineers at least every 4 weeks, and maintained to much higher standards than the legal minimum to ensure safety  and comfort. During the year we introduced a new proactive maintenance programme designed to reduce the overall number of vehicle breakdowns. Every vehicle is cleaned inside and outside daily.

Our environment 

We used 7.1 million litres of diesel last year, at an average of 8.10 miles per gallon. 

We are working to improve fuel consumption through technical measures, and all our drivers have completed a safe and fuel-efficient driving course. We have installed a telematic system called Green Road to all of our service vehicles. This system allows us to better manage our drivers’ performance both in terms of actual driving standard to improve customer comfort but also improve their driving style to achieve better fuel economies.

 All our fleet runs on a higher blend of low sulphur biodiesel, with a high-tech additive Envirox to reduce pollution and improve fuel consumption. Vehicle engines must meet increasingly higher Euro standards of exhaust emissions. 100% of our fleet meets at least the Euro 3 standard and 60% of our fleet meets the Euro 5 standard. 

During the past year we have introduced a further 10 Euro 6 vehicles. We recycle most of our waste, such as litter, used oils, filters, batteries, parts, etc. We also recycle the water we use to wash our vehicles every night.

• Cheltenham services 41 increased by 2%
• Gloucester services 13 increased by 2%, service 33 increased by 6% and
• services 97/98 increased by 1%
• Stroud Service 65 increased by 4%, service 66 increased by 9% and service 67 increased by 1%
• Swindon Service 49 increased by 1% and service 66 increased by 10%