About Stagecoach Yorkshire and Chesterfield

Key facts: May 2019 – April 2020

• 37.1 million passenger journeys 
• 18.9 million miles operated 
• 1,173 employees 
• 384  buses 
• 99.3% reliability 
• 91.6% punctuality

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Our passengers

In the 2019 Transport Focus Passenger Survey, we achieved 89% overall passenger satisfaction. Our customers made 37.169 million journeys on our buses over the year.

We encourage our customers to make comments and suggestions about our services. Over the last 12 months we have received 4,074 comments or complaints, equivalent to one comment for every 9,123 passenger journeys. We comply with the industry code of practice and every complaint is thoroughly investigated. Every suggestion or comment on possible improvements is considered and often changes to services, tickets, routes and timetables are made taking into account feedback from our customers.

In summer 2018 and 2019 we ran a comprehensive advertising campaign to encourage  concessionary pass holders to make use of their free bus passes in our region. This campaign won a Gold award at the UK Bus Awards in London and was considered exceptional by judges for its joint approach with local authorities and other transport partners to getting the best performance from campaign investment and for using channels such as SkySmart TV, pharmacy bags and targeted senior online videos and adverts.

Our employees

We are a major employer in the local economy with 1,173 staff, 896 of whom are drivers, based at 5 depots in Barnsley, Rotherham, Chesterfield and two locations in Sheffield. The majority of our employees also live within the local communities in which our buses operate. All of our drivers have a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). They also receive other training, including customer care, cycle awareness and disability awareness. Our engineers have skilled qualifications, and more young, skilled people join our company each year through the award winning Stagecoach Apprenticeship programme. 

In 2019/20 we were delighted to see many of our employees commended both locally and nationally for their excellent work.  In January 2020 we crowned our Annual Star of the year, where each Star of the month from 2019 is considered to win the annual award. This year it was presented to Craig Smith, a driver from our Holbrook depot.  Craig spotted a young woman in distress whilst driving his bus. Craig stopped his bus, asking a passenger to call for help while he calmly talked to the lady and kept her from causing harm to herself while the emergency services arrived. He also bought a colouring book for her little girl to keep her occupied during the ordeal.

We hold a Bus Driver of the Year competition each year. In 2019 the two highest scoring members of our driving team went on to take part in the national final held in Blackpool. We were very proud when Daniel Baines, a Chesterfield driver, came 21st and Simon Oxby from Rawmarsh depot came 40th out of 82 entrants.  
We continue to recruit from our local communities and have continued our work on the Bus Driver Apprenticeships alongside training provider Interserve Learning and Employment. Our existing driver training modules have been expanded within the framework of the Apprentice Levy arrangements, using a combination of practical training and off the-job learning over a period of 12 months. In November 2019 this work was formally recognised when we were highly commended at the 2019 National UK Bus Awards in London. 

In 2019/20 16 Apprentices completed their training on this scheme  (this was one of the areas that has been affected by  the COVID-19 pandemic as training was suspended for  the lockdown).
In 2019/2020 the Health and Wellbeing programme continued throughout Stagecoach Yorkshire. Depots arranged their own Health and Wellbeing activities such as free fruit Fridays, local walks and Thank You Thursdays, where drivers are chosen at random to have an extra break whilst their journey is covered by a colleague.

Our services

Our services covered a total of 18.9 million miles over the year. Our key measures of performance include the reliability and punctuality of our services. We operated 99.3% of all our journeys. All of our buses are fitted with automatic vehicle location technology. In the past year, 91.6% of our services started their journey within five minutes of their scheduled time and we achieved an 84.6% mid-point punctuality score. Traffic congestion and roadworks are the most common reasons for delays and we continue to work hard with our local authority colleagues to mitigate the effect on our services.

In January 2020 we made significant changes to our ticket range to simplify the ticket zones and reduce the number of fares and tickets. This followed feedback from drivers and customers telling us it was too complicated and confusing. So we listened. Local megarider Plus tickets were expanded into an area wide ‘megarider Silver’ which provides unlimited travel across South Yorkshire, Chesterfield and parts of West Yorkshire on all Stagecoach buses and the Supertram in Sheffield. Each area we serve now has the option to buy a day, week or longer term ticket for their immediate town or city area (in Sheffield this is the CityBus and CityWide tickets, in other areas the dayrider or megarider 7-day ticket). Customers travelling further afield (for example to Leeds, Matlock or Buxton) can still buy the megarider Gold product. 

To encourage customers to buy online and on the Stagecoach app, we introduced a discount for 7 day tickets bought before a customer boards. In addition, our tickets became available to buy at Interchanges in South Yorkshire on Ticket Vending Machines. Again, this is to encourage customers to buy their ticket before they board the bus. This speeds up boarding times to benefit all customers and directs customers towards longer term, better value tickets. 

Our popular 5 for a Fiver group ticket was promoted and extended over the 2019 summer holidays when tickets were available to buy all week long instead of just at the weekends. Groups of between two and five people can use this great offer across South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and North Derbyshire during the six weeks summer holidays to go shopping, enjoy a family day out, visit leisure venues or head out for a night on the town. This popular ticket continues to run all year round at weekends and on Bank Holidays. 

Over the October half term break, we took part in a national campaign for half – term, half – price tickets. This was aimed at encouraging families to travel by bus during the half term break. This was available on our Family dayrider Gold ticket which allows 2 adults and up to 3 children to travel all day across our operating area. 

In Sheffield, we adapted key routes in response to customer requests. Service X2 which connects Barnsley, Chapeltown and Sheffield was extended to serve the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. This change to the service connects the two main hospitals in Sheffield, providing a useful link for staff. Some journeys also called into the Northern General Hospital grounds, making the connection more convenient for staff and visitors.

In Chesterfield we changed services to improve links to Chesterfield Royal Hospital and local business park Markham Vale, providing links up to every 15 minutes from Newbold and Chesterfield town centre. 

The Stagecoach Bus app has undergone some significant changes in the last 12 months, the most notable of which is the new ‘Bus on a Map’ function. This allows customers to see exactly where their bus is in real time on a map. So in addition to a live tracking countdown from their location, easy to buy and store tickets and journey planning tools, the bus on a map function makes the app an even more valuable tool for our customers. They can download it for free from their app store. 

We have dedicated staff based in the Urban Traffic Control offices in Sheffield Town Hall, who work closely with our City Council colleagues to ensure that buses can run to time and that any services that experience delays or disruption are dealt with as effectively as possible to minimise any disruption to customers. 

We continue to work with our local authority partners and during summer 2019 we worked with The Peak District National Park Authority to provide the Hope Valley Explorer bus. The service aimed to reduce the number of car journeys within the National Park during the busiest times of year including running every day during the school summer holidays. The service called at rail stations at Edale, Hope and Bamford, offering convenient connections for people arriving by train.
As well as a flexible hop-on, hop-off service, the Explorer also featured an audio commentary of the rich natural and cultural history of the area - from its extensive cave network to the Dambusters of the Derwent Valley. This is a three-year trial and (lockdown restrictions permitting) will continue for the next two summers. 

Our fares

We offer value for money fares and ticket  options, including standard single fares and unlimited travel zone tickets. 

We also have a range of special tickets for students,  young people and jobseekers.

Our fleet

We operate a fleet of 368 buses, which include:

·         36 hybrid diesel electric buses

·         87 buses with the latest and cleanest Euro 6 engines.

·         A further 34 have been converted from Euro 5 to Euro 6 with the use of Baumot's BNOx exhaust system.

We invested £2.1 million on new vehicles during the year which included 14 new Euro 6 Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC buses in Sheffield. The new environmentally friendly vehicles run on the busy Sheffield cross-city service 25 between Woodhouse, Sheffield city centre, Woodseats and Bradway.

Our average fleet age is 7.5 years.

In addition, we have continued to retrofit buses to meet Clean Air Zone requirements in Sheffield and Rotherham. A Euro 6 bus is cleaner than a Euro 6 car even before you consider its ability to carry many more people. Many mid-life buses have now been upgraded to meet the latest emission standards.

We continue to work with South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and local authorities to identify highway improvements that can further assist bus punctuality and help to reduce journey times. All our vehicles are fitted with CCTV and 175 have free Wi-Fi for the added convenience of our customers. 

Servicing our buses

All our vehicles are inspected by our engineers every 28 days and are maintained to the highest standards to ensure passenger safety and comfort. Every vehicle is cleaned at the end of each day. This process is supported by our in-service cleaning teams operating at Barnsley Interchange during the daytime. 

Our environment

We continue our aim to become a greener, smarter bus operator; not just on the road but in our depots, workshops, offices and canteens. Stagecoach Group has achieved the Carbon Trust Standard for reducing energy consumption, and continues to have a challenging CO2 reduction programme. Our hybrid electric buses and new buses with the latest Euro 6 engines are designed to maximise fuel efficiency. The rest of our fleet runs on B30 diesel which has only 70% carbon content. Our engines are fitted with controls which optimise fuel consumption. Every bus is fitted with technology that gives drivers instant feedback on their driving and allows us to better assess performance. 

Read more about our sustainability strategy and our drive to net zero

Our Community