Bristol bus operator First aims to tackle shortage of '200 bus drivers'

A bus operator facing a shortage of drivers has joined forces with West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris to try to help attract more recruits.

First West of England said it lacked about 200 bus drivers, leading to cancellations and service disruption.

Bus operators such as Stagecoach have been experiencing difficulties too.

First West said it had put "significant effort" into recruitment and Mr Norris said "sorting the driver shortage is a vital step to fix the bus network".

Doug Claringbold, managing director of First West of England, said: "We increased our salary by 14% earlier in the year.

"We're doing all that we can."

James, a former driver for the company from Bradley Stoke, told the BBC he would "love" to go back to First Bus and be a driver again.

However, he said he believed the company "have not learned anything yet".

"They're not working on driver retention, they're not trying to improve the conditions in the contract the drivers work under," he said.

A spokesperson for First West of England said its driver retention rate was better than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We greatly value our drivers and indeed all of our staff," they added.

"We are making concerted efforts to retain drivers and this work is already leading to improved retention levels.

"We recently opened a brand new and greatly improved drivers' rest area near Broad Quay in the centre of Bristol.

"We invested significantly in these modern facilities which also provide drivers with much greater access to managers and supervisors."

Regular passengers say they are experiencing delays and cancellations due to the driver shortage.

Cat Ruffles, who is a bus user in Staple Hill, said services were important to her as a reliable alternative to cycling or having to drive into the centre.

The disruptions were making bus travel less reliable but Ms Ruffles said she thought the drivers were handling the situation well.

"You can imagine the amount of people asking the bus drivers questions and they handled it so well - they were polite, friendly and helpful," Ms Ruffles said.

Valerie in Frenchay used to rely heavily on the number 5 bus service, using it to go to Fishponds, where her dentist, doctor and hairdresser are.

That service has now been cancelled and replaced by the 47, which runs once an hour and does not go to Stapleton.

"One or two buses recently have not turned up," she said.

"But the drivers on the whole are friendly and helpful and are doing a difficult job."

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