annual report May 2011 to April 2012 SOUTH WEST www.stagecoachbus.com
Operational performance statistics About us Stagecoach South West provides local bus services across Exeter, East Devon, Torbay, South Devon, North Devon, Somerset and into Cornwall and Dorset. Our aim is to provide safe, reliable, punctual, clean and comfortable services with a good value for money range of tickets and fares. This annual report covers the year from May 2011 to April 2012. Our passengers We carried a total of 27 million passengers over the year, an increase of 0.14% over the previous year. We received a total of 2,526 passenger complaints about our services. That equates to one complaint per 10,689 passengers. We comply with our industry code of practice, and every complaint is investigated and action taken to avoid repetition of the problem. Our services We operated a total of 14 million miles over the year, a decrease of 6% over the previous year. This was due to cuts in local authority tendered services and concessionary travel payments. However, despite the challenging economic conditions, we have worked hard to maintain a stable network. Our key measure of performance is the reliability and punctuality of our services. In the past year we operated 99.2% of our scheduled services, with 0.3% failure due to internal reasons and 0.5% failure due to traffic congestion or adverse weather conditions. We monitor our services for punctuality and 96.9% of our services operated within 5 minutes of their scheduled time, traffic congestion again being the main reason for delay. We continue to seek improvements both through rescheduling services and in discussions with our local highway authorities. 99.2% of all scheduled services operated. During the second half of 2011 we branded the 36 new vehicles purchased for Exeter as Ex-Citi in order to create a coherent identity for the network. March 2012 saw an investment of 3.9 million in 23 new Scania E400 double decker buses for our flagship Service 12 in Torbay.
Our staff We are a major South West employer with 725 drivers, 95 engineers and cleaners, and 65 supervisors, managers and administration staff, all of whom are based locally. We have continued to invest in training all our staff. The majority of our drivers have completed the first four stages of their Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). Our engineers are all skilled workers and we employ 6 apprentices to provide skills for the future. Our supervisors and managers have all completed relevant training courses for their various professions. Our fares We increased fares once during the year by an average of 5%. This was to cover our increased costs of pay, fuel and insurance, and to provide for further investment in new vehicles, plant and equipment. Our fleet We operate a fleet of 315 buses and coaches, of which we replaced 23 over the past year with a total investment of 3.9 million. 99% of our fleet (excluding school buses) is wheelchair and buggy accessible. All our vehicles are inspected by our engineers at least every 3 weeks, and maintained to much higher standards than the legal minimum to ensure safety and comfort. Every vehicle is cleaned daily and the average age of our vehicles is 6.5 years old. Like all businesses, we have been affected by the continuing economic conditions. The last 12 months have been unprecedented in terms of a loss of tendered revenue from local authority contracts, a 74% increase in fuel tax due to a reduction in Government support and substantially higher prices for fuel and utilities. However, we have worked hard to keep fare increases to a minimum and believe our buses still offer a greener, smarter and more affordable alternative to the car.
Our environment We used 1.814 million gallons of diesel last year, at an average of 7.6 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. Stagecoach Group has recently achieved the Carbon Trust Standard for reducing CO2 tonnes emissions, and has announced a challenging CO2 reduction programme for the next 5 years. During the first 12 months of this programme, we achieved a 17.9% reduction in CO2 tonnes emissions within our depots through measures including installing intelligent lighting and encouraging our staff to display more environmentally aware behaviour. All our fleet runs on low sulphur diesel, with a high-tech additive Envirox, to reduce pollution and improve fuel consumption. Vehicle engines must meet increasingly higher Euro standards of exhaust emissions. 85.7 % of our fleet meets at least the Euro 3 standard. 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. Our achievements We are justly proud that, despite the ongoing economic situation, we have maintained network stability for our customers with a minimal loss of services and routes. We are committed to continuing to invest in the South West. During this past financial year we purchased 23 new double decker vehicles for Torbay at a total cost of 3.9 million. We have been fully engaged with the Group wide energy management programme, achieving a 17.9% savings on our depot CO2 tonnes emissions when benchmarked against the previous financial year. We have successfully introduced Smartcards for all concessionary passengers travelling on our South West services and look forward to participating in further innovative projects designed to improve our customers experience. Our Torbay Depot was named Runner Up in the 2011 UK Bus Awards Top National Depot category, with the judges commenting: Stagecoach South West s Torbay depot has a team of staff who pull together to deliver exceptional service day in and day out Not only do the staff excel when it comes to their work lives, including their commitment to recycling and green issues, but the judges were impressed with their interest in and support of out-of-work activities, with them genuinely enjoying spending time together outside the workplace whether raising money for charity or enjoying a barbecue at their fun day. We were delighted with this commendation, demonstrating as it does that working for a large company does not preclude enjoying a family atmosphere.
Key Facts 27 million passengers were carried on Stagecoach South West services 14 million miles were operated within the South West across Devon, Somerset and into Cornwall and Dorset 99.2 % service reliability and 96.9 % service punctuality 315 buses operating on 132 routes across Devon and Somerset, extending into Cornwall 885 staff at 6 depots and 3 Outstations 3.9 million investment in 23 new buses for Torbay Runner up Top National Bus Depot at the 2011 UK Bus Awards 17.9% reduction in CO2 tonnes emissions when compared to the previous financial year
Exeter 01392 42 77 11 Torbay 01803 66 45 00 Barnstaple 01271 32 90 89 disability helpline 01392 88 97 49 travel shops Exeter bus station Paignton bus station Torquay, 15 Victoria Parade customer services Stagecoach South West Belgrave Road Exeter EX1 2LB southwest.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com stagecoachbus.com/southwest devon.gov.uk/devonbus ticket agents For a full list of our ticket agents please visit: stagecoachbus.com/southwest what to do if things go wrong We do our best to meet your expectations, but occasionally things go wrong. If you feel we have failed you in some way please tell us about it by contacting customer services at the address above. If you re unhappy with our response, this is the independent body that will review complaints: The Bus Appeals Body PO Box 119 Shepperton TW17 8UX train information 08457 48 49 50 bus times All information correct at the time of going to press (June 2012)