FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Transcription

1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2 WHAT IS BWCABUS? Bwcabus is a fully accessible local bus service which is tailored to the needs of the passengers by operating in response to pre-booked journey requests. WILL THE BWCABUS PICK ME UP FROM HOME? Bwcabus is a bus service and will collect passengers from their nearest bus stop. The exceptions to this rule are: Passengers with mobility difficulties may be picked up and set down at or near to their home address providing it is safe and practical to do so. Passengers must ensure they inform the call centre agent of any mobility issues when registering for the service. Passengers living in rural and isolated areas where there are no designated bus stops may also be picked up and set down at or near to their home address providing this is on the public highway. The Bwcabus vehicles are unable to travel on private roads. WHERE CAN I TRAVEL USING BWCABUS? You can use Bwcabus to travel to any location within the service operating area shown on the map or to the nearest hub if you are connecting with a mainline bus service.

3 CEREDIGION AND CARMARTHENSHIRE BWCABUS AREA PEMBROKESHIRE BWCABUS AREA

4 DO I HAVE TO REGISTER TO USE BWCABUS? Yes, passengers must register prior to using the Bwcabus service. Registration is free and can be done quickly and easily by phoning our call centre on , or by completing the online registration form on our website. You will be asked to provide some basic details which will only be used in conjunction with the provision of the service. Please see our Privacy Notice for more details available on our website. HOW DO I BOOK A JOURNEY? Call our bilingual call centre on Provide your postcode and your desired journey details to the call centre agent, who will provide you with details of pick up, interchange (if applicable) and arrival times. Sometimes the agents will be unable to make your booking straight away and may need to call you back with your journey details. The call centre is open from 7am until 7pm, 7 days a week. Morning journeys must be booked by 7pm the day before travel and afternoon journeys by 11.30am on the day of the journey. All journeys are subject to availability and the service operates on a first come, first served basis, so you will sometimes be offered an alternative travel time. Remember to book your return journey when you call! Once you ve made your booking, just wait for the bus to arrive! CAN I CANCEL A BOOKING? o If, after booking a journey, you find that you no longer need the booking for any reason, please contact the Bwcabus call centre to cancel the booking. o We kindly request passenger to provide adequate notice on all cancellations. minimum of 90 minutes would be ideal. o Failure to cancel in advance will result in the bus undertaking an unnecessary journey and precludes other people from booking a journey as the bus time has been allocated. o Passengers MUST NOT cancel journeys with the bus drivers. o Passengers who continue to misuse the service will be issued with letters which could result in the passenger being removed from using the service. The following rule applies (Late cancellations deemed as - 90 minutes before journey is to be undertaken) o More than 3 late cancellations in any one month period will trigger a warning letter being issued o 3 warning letters issued within 12 months will result in a one month ban from using service o All permanent bans to be discussed in Delivery Group Meetings on case by case basis by the Delivery Group.

5 CAN I JUST HOP ON THE BWCABUS? With exception to the fixed route journeys, all passengers must pre book to travel on the Bwcabus service. With the exception of fixed routes, passengers are only able to travel on the Bwcabus without pre booking if another passenger has booked to undertake the EXACT same journey. The bus will not be able to divert off the planned route or make ANY additional stops. Once a passenger books a journey, this becomes a registered route with the Traffic Commissioner. For example if a passenger has booked to travel from Maenclochog to Crymych and another passenger would like to undertake the exact journey, the passenger may travel without booking. However if the passenger would like to be dropped off in Llangolman or Clunderwen, this is not possible, as this involves creating an additional stop and diverting off route. Please note: Passenger are not able to travel on unauthorised journeys (journeys with no pre bookings/fixed routes). For example if a bus completes a journey in Lampeter and the next journey commences in Cribyn, passengers are unable to travel on the unauthorised journey without pre booking, in this instance the journey deemed as dead/positioning journey, is back to Cribyn for the next pick up. Whilst we appreciate this maybe frustrating to the passenger, we must adhere to the regulations placed on us by Traffic Commissioner. Failure to comply may result in the bus operators being brought before the traffic commissioner to explain actions which may result in a financial penalty and/or possibly the service being terminated. In addition such arrangements would infringe Hackney Carriage Law. WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN T GET THE TIME I REQUESTED? Every effort will be made to provide passenger with their desired times. With the Bwcabus service getting busier it is becoming more challenging to provide passengers with their requested times. In this instance the Bwcabus team will offer an alternative time to fit in with existing bookings.

6 WHAT IF I AM DELAYED ON MY RETURN JOURNEY? Bwcabus is a bus service rather than a taxi service, therefore if you miss the bus it may not be possible to make a replacement booking for the same day. You can ring the call centre on to find out if the Bwcabus is making another return journey later that same day on which you can travel. Please note Bwcabus is unable to make any changes to the pickup and drop off points of the later booked journey. WHAT IF I FAIL TO TURN UP FOR MY BOOKED JOURNEY? We understand from time to time passenger may no longer require a booked journey. We kindly request in this situation that the passenger notifies the call centre on to cancel the journey immediately. Please remember that we reserve the right to exclude customers from using the service who continually fail to turn up for journeys which they have booked. The following rules apply: More than 3 missed journeys in any one month period will trigger a warning letter being issued 3 warning letters issued within 12 months will result in a one month ban from using service All permanent bans to be discussed in Delivery Group Meetings on case by case basis by the Delivery Group. WHAT IF THE MAIN SERVICE IS DELAYED, WILL BWCABUS WAIT FOR ME? Bwcabus will wait up to 10 minutes for connecting services, if it is able to, however sometimes this may not be possible if the bus is busy. Every effort will be made to ensure passengers return safely and are not stranded. We kindly request passengers ensure the call centre has your up to date home and mobile number to ensure we can make contact if we made aware of any disruptions.

7 HOW FAR AHEAD CAN I MAKE A BOOKING? You can book a journey up to a month in advance. All journeys are subject to availability, and will be booked on a first come first served basis. We recommend that you give as much notice as you can to avoid disappointment. CAN I BOOK REGULAR JOURNEYS? There is no limit on how many bookings you can make, for example if you wished to use the bus regularly to travel to work you could book the Bwcabus every day for the week ahead or longer if you wish. CAN I CONFIRM A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBERS BOOKINGS? We are unable to provide passenger journey details to third parties. This is in order to protect our passengers privacy in accordance with the law*. If you wish to make an enquiry regarding a booking on behalf of someone else, please log the passenger s contact details and the call agents will ring the passenger back direct to confirm the details of their journey. *The General Data Protection Regulation & Data Protection Act 2018 CAN THE BUS DRIVER TAKE OR AMEND MY BOOKING? No, the Bwcabus drivers cannot take, amend or cancel bookings. All bookings MUST be made through the Bwcabus call centre. Ring DO I NEED TO PRE-BOOK MY RETURN JOURNEY? Excluding the fixed bus routes, it is a requirement that ALL Bwcabus journeys are pre-booked. Your return journey can be booked at the same time as your outward journey. CAN I BOOK FOR A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBERS? Yes, it is possible to book on behalf of other Bwcabus members, provided that they have registered for the service, and that you can provide details of their name, 1st line of their address, and postcode.

8 HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO CONTACT THE BWCABUS CALL CENTRE ? Calls to this number will be charged at your local/national rate from your telecom provider, if you have UK minutes within any of your monthly bundle this would usually be included as part of your subscription, however please check your telecom providers guidance for clarity. HOW DOES THE BWCABUS AND MAIN LINE BUS SERVICE CONNECTIONS WORK? Bwcabus will meet with the bus services at local hubs along the main route. When making a booking, passengers must ensure they inform the call centre of their final journey destination and preferred return journey. The call centre will use this information to establish the quickest and most suitable route and hub for connections. In addition this information will be used to calculate fares. WILL BWCABUS BE THERE WAITING FOR ME? If the Bwcabus is able to, it will be waiting for the connecting bus to arrive, however sometimes this may not be possible if the bus is busy.

9 WHAT IS A HUB? Hubs are interchange points between the main line bus service and the Bwcabus. Bwcabus will feed passengers into these hubs to connect with the main bus services. There are a number of main hubs located on the main line routes, these include: T1 TrawsCymru Service: Carmarthen Aberystwyth Pencader Llanybydder Lampeter Felinfach Ciliau Aeron Aberaeron Llanrhystud T1C TrawsCymru Service: Aberystwyth - Cardiff Synod Inn Llandysul T5 TrawsCymru Service: Haverfordwest Cardigan Aberystwyth Treffgarne WolfsCastle Letterston Mathry Road Trecwn Tan-y-groes Brynhoffnant Synod Inn Aberaeron Llanrhystud 313 Bus Service: Wiston Haverfordwest Clarbeston Road 413 Bus Service: Fishguard - St David's Castle Morris 430 Bus Service: Cardigan Narberth Crymych Efailwen Clunderwen 460 Bus Service: Cardigan Carmarthen Cenarth Newcastle Emlyn Dre-fach Felindre Henllan Saron 585 Bus Service: Lampeter Aberystwyth Lampeter Tregaron 588 Bus Service: Lampeter Aberystwyth Lampeter Tregaron If you require a connection with any other bus service operating within the Bwcabus area please provide the call centre agent with details of the connecting service and they will be happy to arrange your journey to connect with it. CAN I MAKE A BOOKING BETWEEN TWO HUBS? No, this service is provided by the main line bus service. WILL I NEED TO CHANGE BUSES OFTEN? This will depend on the passenger s destination and every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum.

10 HOW MUCH WILL A JOURNEY COST? Single, return, and multi journey tickets can be purchased from the driver as well as Daily and Weekly West Wales Rover Tickets. Fares are calculated on the length of a journey but will be similar to existing local bus journeys. Please advise the call centre operator of your starting location and final destination, as fares will be calculated on this basis. Passengers who fail to inform the call centre agents of any connections may pay more for their journeys. Interchangeable tickets can be purchased/accepted by Bwcabus for those undertaking connecting journeys. CAN MY CHILD TRAVEL FREE OF CHARGE? One child under the age of 5 and not occupying a seat may travel free provided he/she is travelling with a fare paying passenger, unless the child is travelling to or from school when a fare will apply for that child. However carriage of children as part of a predetermined school contract can travel free of charge. CAN I USE MY CONCESSIONARY BUS PASS? Yes, concessionary bus pass holders in Wales are able to travel free on all Bwcabus services. You must be a resident in Wales to be eligible for the concession. You must have your concessionary pass with you when you travel and present this to the bus driver when boarding the bus. IS THE BWCABUS AN EASY ACCESSIBLE VEHICLE? The buses have low, wide stepfree entrances, making them accessible to people with buggies and to wheelchair users, and for those with mobility problems. Whilst the vehicles are fully DDA compliant there is a restriction on some wheelchairs and the bus can only carry one wheelchair at any given time. Please contact the call centre for further information.

11 ARE PETS ALLOWED ON THE SERVICE? Dogs and small pets are allowed to travel on the Bwcabus vehicles on condition that: 1. They are kept in a pet carrying cage at all times and 2. They are well behaved. This is in the interest of passenger safety and hygiene. Guide dogs are welcome on the vehicles Please ensure you notify call centre when making your booking. HOW DO I MAKE A COMPLIMENT OR COMPLAINT ABOUT THE BWCABUS SERVICE? If you have a compliment or complaint about the Bwcabus service please contact the call centre on Alternatively us at feedback@bwcabus.info CAN THE BUS DRIVERS ASSIST WITH CARRYING SHOPPING? The bus drivers are UNABLE to assist passengers with carrying shopping bags to or from the vehicle. CAN THE BUS DRIVER REFUSE ENTRY? The driver is within their rights to refuse to carry any passengers who they think is NOT in a fit state to travel. The health and safety of every passenger is of paramount importance along with the wellbeing of members of the public and our drivers. It is important that your journeys with Bwcabus are pleasant and enjoyable. We kindly request passengers follow the below, to ensure that everyone's passenger experience is a happy and positive journey. Consider other passengers and keep noise levels down - mobile phones and music players. Do not put your feet up on seats - others have to sit on them. Any substances that are deemed to be hazardous or flammable or that could cause damage to one of our buses such as petrol, paint or car batteries are not allowed on board. Smoking is strictly prohibited on any of our vehicles (including e- cigarettes)

12 FOR INFORMATION Bwcabus will not tolerate any unacceptable passenger behaviour made towards bus drivers, call centre agents, Bwcabus Team or any other passengers. Any instances will be investigated. LEARN MORE if you would like a Bwcabus representative to attend your meeting/group to make a presentation on the scheme or if you would like information packs to hand out please us on - feedback@bwcabus.info