Passenger survey boost for First West Yorkshire

The results show an overall customer satisfaction score of 85 per cent across First’s bus services in West Yorkshire following the survey of over 900 users by Passenger Focus between September and November 2014.

Paul Matthews, Managing Director for First in West Yorkshire said, “I’m pleased to see such an improvement in customer satisfaction around value for money and to note that more than half our customers are choosing First when they have other travel options.

“These results reflect the significant improvements in service in 2014 and our low fares policy that is helping attract more customers onto First buses. Our customers remain at the heart of what we do and we’ll be working hard to continue improving bus services in West Yorkshire even further.”

The scores show an increase of 12 per cent in customers who are very or fairly satisfied with value for money on First buses in West Yorkshire (from 54 per cent to 66 per cent).

The survey also shows very high satisfaction in the ease of getting on / off the bus (90 per cent) and drivers getting near to the kerb-side for boarding (90 per cent).

This positive improvement follows a number of initiatives introduced by First in 2014 including the introduction of over £8m in new buses, value fare offers (including up to 30 per cent cuts in prices in January 2014) and the introduction of mobile ticketing.