Arriva: Ticket records vital

Jun 10 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

I WAS disappointed to note the letter “Arriva is unfair to elderly” (May 27).

Bus operators are paid a proportion of the normal fare for each passenger that is carried, and it is therefore important to accurately record every person who travels on the service.

A complete ticket record enables us to know exactly how many people we are carrying on every journey that we run.

It is a vital component in planning the right levels of service and putting the buses where customers want them. Unfair to the elderly? I think not.

Your correspondent complains that holders of no other prepaid tickets have to queue for additional tickets. Quite right.

Ideally, they should be issued to all, but the complexity once again of recording all the different types of ticket in use would cause unacceptable delays.

We long for the development of smartcards for every type of pass then we may be able to dispense with ticket issue completely, who knows?

That, of course, does not excuse any discourtesy from our drivers in carrying out this task.

I apologise for any difficulty or embarrassment that may have been caused to your correspondent. Specific complaints of such incidents will be fully investigated and appropriate action will be taken with the staff concerned.

DEREK BOWES

Commercial Manager, Arriva North West