Putting the interests of passengers at the heart of everything bus companies and local authorities do, to encourage bus travel is the most important element in any successful bus policy.
It is the driver who is at the front line in providing passengers with a quality service – making them feel welcome and well looked after, dealing with questions and all the rest.
It is the driver who leaves passengers with a lasting impression of the quality of service provided, and he or she is critical to operators’ attempts to grow patronage.
Because they are all human, some bus drivers are not always the most welcoming. But sometimes you come across an individual driver who excels and provides an exemplary example of how to look after passengers, make them feel welcome, and to keep them entertained even when services run into difficulty.
Stand up Karl, a driver for First Eastern Counties.
At the height of the chaos caused by the snow a couple of weeks ago his bus got stuck, and for some time too by the sounds of things. So what did he do? Sit behind his wheel and just wait for help to arrive, while leaving his passengers to moan and grumble behind him? Not a bit of it.
He got out his mobile phone, and with a large cheery grin, recorded a message that went something like this: “At First we are committed to getting our passengers to work on time and safely.
“But today we’ve been stuck in the snow for 2.5 hours. So what is a bus driver going to do? He’s going to say… and he then bursts into a rendition of the first verse of the Christmas carol “Let it snow”, and when it comes to the chorus line he turns his phone towards his passengers and they all join in the sing-song, cheering and clapping when the verse comes to an end, and all with smiles on their faces. You can find it on YouTube.
I describe the event in some detail because Karl turned what could have been a really difficult and unpleasant experience, with angry, cold and unhappy passengers into what looked like an entertaining experience.
He turned adversity into something that his passengers enjoyed and will doubtless remember fondly despite the inconvenience they experienced.
This is what customer service is all about. I take my hat off to you Karl, you are an example to drivers up and down the country.
I have little doubt that there are many other bus drivers like Karl who have the same exemplary attitude towards their passengers, but today it’s Karl’s spot in the limelight and I hope his employer recognises him accordingly.
In closing, I can’t resist the observation that Karl’s bus would have got stuck even if the service was regulated.
