Bus operator ‘could have been fined’
Tuesday 26th July 2011, 2:52PM BST.
Eight of ten thought buses were clean and tidy
BUS operator Connex could theoretically have been made to pay up to £750,000 a year in penalties for poor service, say accountancy consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
That figure would account for around one third of the £2.4 million of public money the company is paid annually to provide a bus service. The accountancy firm has concluded that up to £645,472 a year could have been charged for late or early buses, according to the terms of the contract Connex signed with the States in 2002.
It also found that penalties worth up to £103,479 could have been imposed for inappropriate conduct by drivers, ranging from how they were dressed or spoke to customers to whether they smoked or encouraged others to do so.
The figures – which are disputed by Transport and Technical Services, the department which manages the bus service contract – are contained in a report written by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the States independent spending watchdog.
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Well please explain why TTS are not enforcing the contract. What’s the point in having penalty provisions in a contract if you won’t enforce them? This seriously annoys me – such a huge amount of money wasted. Connex should pay the penalties that arise when their service does not meet the standard expected.
Poor from the TTS Department and Mike Jackson – never been the brightest spark has he…
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So why haven’t they been charged/fined this amount. This is the only way the company to improve its service and attract passengers.
The drivers think they own the road, they come hurtling towards you in there oversized busses on narrow roads expecting drivers to jump out of their way, pulling out of junctions with no consideration for any other road user – need on go on, yes!
I was unfortunate enough, through medical reasons not permitted to drive late last year and decided to use the buses, this was short lived for the following reasons
To get to the bus to find it had gone, I was 5 mins early, so was the bus.
To find the driver(s), (not all) rude, to the point it was too much trouble to give change back, not a great amount, I only had a £1 note & a 50p.
To see the drivers accelerate away so hard from a stop before the passengers are seated that I watched toddlers with their guardian catapulted down the isle.
To see an elderly person trip whilst getting onto the bus because the bus had not been lowered, and to see the driver not even raise an eyebrow to what had just happened in-front of him, words failed me – the passengers were more concerned for this person.
The final nail in Connexs drivers for me was when pulling in to a stop for the driver to clip a passenger, not hard, but hard enough to jolt them froward, without even the faintest apology from the driver, even when reporting this driver to connex at Jubilee Station, the staff were uninterested and it seemed to much bother to take details!
Having been met without even a hello, thank you or goodbye doesn’t cost a penny, but goes miles towards good customer relations.
All of this with in two days of using the buses – you guessed it I voted with my feet and decided to walk rather than ever again use Connex’s so called service on the number one route, I dread to think what the other routes are like – so go ahead FINE THEM!
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I would like to see if TTS are working within the law, From illegal parking fines to shoddy road works to which TTS are responsible. For TTS to say they are not at fault if there is an accident caused by the state of the roads is a complete joke and in my eyes under health and safety laws regarding public safety there liable. Parking fines if written illegally are void so where does this you will go to court for not making a volantary payment come from.
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I wonder how much PwC was paid to write this report? I would guess at a high five or even six figures.
TTS do not like the content so they are disputing it, but do they really have much choice?
If Connex had to pay this level of fines they would probabaly pull the plug leaving the island without a bus service at all.
Happy days in Ruritania!
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Now what a surprise!!!!!!! This whole contract was a disaster from the word go. We should have stuck with the original company and just increased the subsidy but a few hundred thousand pounds and not the millions we are now spending. I notice the contract is now out to tender with many companies from all over the world taking an interest – why are we wasting their time? It is a forgone conclusion that Connex will get it again because our States are totally in bed with them and I suspect have some kind of clause in the contract that will give Connex almost a guarantee of continuing long into the future. Ah well typically Jersey eh??
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So,if they failed to fulfill the terms of the contract,why were the fines not imposed? Who decided this course of action? What is the point of the contract if it is not being enforced?
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The bus companies operating in the Transport For London area would be green with envy! Every thing we do is snitched , snipped and logged by TFL with a view to imposing fines!
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2.4 million of taxpayers money?
should we not be on the bus for free.
when we look at our sister island , how much does their bus service cost, ok its always appears to be on a wing and a prayer, but cannot cost this amount .
did anybody see a notice in the the jersey gazzette( used to appear in the jep, we may of stopped doing this). asking for tenders to supply the bus service.
who knew the contract weas up for renewal?
meet the new bus same as the old bus.
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That’s ok. I’m sure if it was the other way round Connex would not have asked the States for £750k a year.
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Presumably, if TTS dispute this report, perhaps, they can advise us all exactly how much Connex should have been fined, and why. And, more to the point, why TTS has not done its job and fined Connex. Or is this just another piece of information, so secret, so complex that the public of Jersey can not be trusted with it, let alone understand it. Long live open government à
la mode Jersiaise.
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The last time I used Connex the bus left early, and I had to get a taxi costing £15. The man in the office checked the CCTV and confirmed the driver had left early and took my details but 6 weeks, 4 phone calls and 2 trips to the office in the bus station and they’ve done sweet FA.
Reliability and customer service, is that too much to ask?
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Golly, this could have paid for two or three top civil servants to ride off into the sunset. What a wasted opportunity! They could have caught the bus.
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so has our Treasury Minister got the balls to demand the fines be paid…………I Don’t think so!!!!!!!!!!!
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Another Guy De Faye legacy then perpetuated by Mike ‘lets kill the pretty lights
along the front’ Jackson then there is the Toxic incinerator another Guy DE Faye memorial….where do we get’em.
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and the states want help on how to cut spending, or is there someone in the states with a personnel interest
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We used to have Joe’s bus service ,ran out of the Springfield petrol station…good too.. what we have now costs too much is inneficient unless you live at St Brelade or Gorey,rest are a waste of time….you can’t come into town to visit the cinema in the evenings and get back if you live in the country…they have been told to study the Badger bus service in Weston super Mare as it works and makes a profit the pedestrianised town centre is similar to ours…the bus co was failing,they bought in a new boss who sold half the buses straight away and bought twice as many mini buses,ran more and frequent roots employed more drivers and turned the fortunes of the bus co around in 12 months….we have all come to lamely accept a “Leaves on the track ” excuse making culture and need to pull our flippin socks up,fire some twerps and move on.
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Who do you think would have paid all these fines really? Connex would have been fined then a couple of months later connex need a bigger subsidy from the states or prices would go up blah blah,to cover the fines and a bit more for a laugh, who thinks it wouldn’t happen eh?
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Connex must make a fortune with the 2.4 million considering the laughable service they provide- especially the so-called summer timetable which is over before you know it. After that half the country services cease for 8 months.Mind you, Connex are no stranger to fines for poor service thats why they lost the franchise for the railways in the South East U.K. Time they got their act together and ran a good service from beginning April to end October with a couple of late night circular buses all year round so people could go out for a meal and have a drink without worrying about driving.
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i bet if it was the other way round and connex could have claimed from the states they would have, poor poor leadership from our states members smell the coffee and get real you muppets
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I use the bus service on a regular basis and I’ve found some of the drivers to be very rude at times. I also don’t understand why Connex don’t provide more buses to Rue des Pres at peak times, particularly as there are so many companies based there and not everyone can drive!
I’m also very annoyed that they don’t run certain buses during the school holidays, which means that I now have to catch an earlier bus to get to work on time!
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OOOOH! Connex COULD have been fined! I bet they are quaking in their big boots. Speeding motorists and others who transgress ARE fined, yet Connex COULD have been fined. Those responsible for enforcing the contract COULD have done the job and the public purse COULD have been enhanced. Intead, a namby pamby, wishy washy, hoity toity lar-de-dar, weak kneed, lilly livered, ineffective style of leadership DID occur!
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1. they were NOT the cheapest tender in the bidding process – the old JMT/Blue coach bid was.
2. They did not mention at the time that they could not run the service with the level of subsidies provided!
3. Their buses did not comply with our vhicle standards – which have been changed to accomodate connex.
4. The double decker bus to the airport has meant the squirrel rope bridges across mont les vaux have had to be removed and several tree branches removed.
5. The contract has not been enforced.
So anybody think there is no favouritism? All of the above also apply to the waterfront/aquasplash pool. We as a tax payer are paying for this service through subsidies, then pay on top for the company to make a profit.. User pays – TWICE!
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We hear the same complaints about the ferries; could someone explain to me why we can’t have a State run bus & ferry service like in Guernsey?
Their Politicians fought tooth and nail to keep Aurigny under their auspices to make sure the people had affordable and reliable transport.
WHY CAN WE NOT DO THE SAME?!!
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