I've been aware of supermaket chains in particular employing "mystery
shoppers" (people who turn up to a shop in normal clothes and assess / rate
the shop and service on a range of factors), but never known of this being
done by London Buses as well. Until I got on a bus this afternoon, where
there was a woman with a little black filofax-style book sat halfway down
the bus ticking and crossing away and adding a couple of notes. If the
operators get extra points for dirty buses and drivers seeing how many OAPs
they can try and help fall over before they can find a seat, then someone's
doing quite well this afternoon...

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:04:00 +0100, "Neil Watson"
wrote:

I've been aware of supermaket chains in particular employing "mystery
shoppers" (people who turn up to a shop in normal clothes and assess / rate
the shop and service on a range of factors), but never known of this being
done by London Buses as well. Until I got on a bus this afternoon, where
there was a woman with a little black filofax-style book sat halfway down
the bus ticking and crossing away and adding a couple of notes. If the
operators get extra points for dirty buses and drivers seeing how many OAPs
they can try and help fall over before they can find a seat, then someone's
doing quite well this afternoon...

This is standard practice for TfL Buses and for LU where mystery
shoppers are used to evaluate all sorts of aspects of the service. Some
elements are linked directly to contractual payments.

I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

"Neil Watson" wrote in message
...
I've been aware of supermaket chains in particular employing "mystery
shoppers" (people who turn up to a shop in normal clothes and assess /
rate
the shop and service on a range of factors), but never known of this being
done by London Buses as well. Until I got on a bus this afternoon, where
there was a woman with a little black filofax-style book sat halfway down
the bus ticking and crossing away and adding a couple of notes. If the
operators get extra points for dirty buses and drivers seeing how many
OAPs
they can try and help fall over before they can find a seat, then
someone's
doing quite well this afternoon...

All aspects of TfL are mystery shopped including taxis, bus stations, bus,
tubes.
The tube visits are extensive with several hundred visits each quarter.

Nicks

Paul Corfield wrote:

I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


It's a pity, then that they never seem to have visited the 28 or 295
routes - half of the drivers would be off the road if they did.

As for timing - last Thursday I needed to get a 295 from Wandsworth
Bridge Road to Clapham Junction. I was at the bus stop by 12.15p.m. -
no 295 untul 12.35 and that only went as far as Wandsworth Bridge. Only
after another 10 minutes did one bound for Clapham Junction arrive - a
total of 40 minutes' wait.

The "three in a row" syndrome is alive and kicking!

It beggars belief that this is considered an adequate "service" by
anyone.



Marc.

On 30 Sep 2006 03:35:22 -0700, "
wrote:


Paul Corfield wrote:

I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


It's a pity, then that they never seem to have visited the 28 or 295
routes - half of the drivers would be off the road if they did.

I can't comment on your complaints with those services.

You might be moderately interested to know that the 295 is to get a
night bus service. In addition it looks like the 28 will become 24 hour
as well (on its current route thus replacing the N28) with the N31 being
increased in frequency to cover the bit to Camden.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/download...est-london.pdf
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 30 Sep 2006 03:35:22 -0700, "
wrote:


Paul Corfield wrote:

I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


It's a pity, then that they never seem to have visited the 28 or 295
routes - half of the drivers would be off the road if they did.

I can't comment on your complaints with those services.

You might be moderately interested to know that the 295 is to get a
night bus service. In addition it looks like the 28 will become 24 hour
as well (on its current route thus replacing the N28) with the N31 being
increased in frequency to cover the bit to Camden.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/download...est-london.pdf
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Many thanks for the link, Paul!

Fascinating stuff- I had no idea about any of these proposals, despite
being a member of L.O.T.S.!

Marc.

On 30 Sep 2006 06:41:52 -0700, "
wrote:


Paul Corfield wrote:

You might be moderately interested to know that the 295 is to get a
night bus service. In addition it looks like the 28 will become 24 hour
as well (on its current route thus replacing the N28) with the N31 being
increased in frequency to cover the bit to Camden.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/download...est-london.pdf

Many thanks for the link, Paul!

No problem. I only found it myself a couple of days ago but it's
actually nice to see this stuff getting published via the net. If only
all bus consultation material was.

Fascinating stuff- I had no idea about any of these proposals, despite
being a member of L.O.T.S.!

Many of the changes are being phased in over the next couple of months
with the more major London General and Metroline stuff early in the New
Year. The most recent Service Change Bulletin has got dates where before
nothing was firmed up.

LOTS tend not to publish until they are sure that certain items will
proceed although the first set of proposals were in TLB a number of
months ago.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

wrote:
Paul Corfield wrote:
I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


It's a pity, then that they never seem to have visited the 28 or 295
routes - half of the drivers would be off the road if they did.

As for timing - last Thursday I needed to get a 295 from Wandsworth
Bridge Road to Clapham Junction. I was at the bus stop by 12.15p.m. -
no 295 untul 12.35 and that only went as far as Wandsworth Bridge. Only
after another 10 minutes did one bound for Clapham Junction arrive - a
total of 40 minutes' wait.

The "three in a row" syndrome is alive and kicking!

It beggars belief that this is considered an adequate "service" by
anyone.

I'd encourage you to submit a complaint
(https://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/contact_form.asp). I've also had very poor
experiences of buses on Wandsworth Bridge Rd (albeit at night on the
N28), where a couple of services in a row appear to be cancelled but
still run empty back up from the bridge towards Fulham - very
frustrating when the N28 frequency is every 30 mins.


--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Dave Arquati wrote:
wrote:
Paul Corfield wrote:
I think there is also a separate stream of inspections for driver
quality / driving standards.
--
Paul C


It's a pity, then that they never seem to have visited the 28 or 295
routes - half of the drivers would be off the road if they did.

As for timing - last Thursday I needed to get a 295 from Wandsworth
Bridge Road to Clapham Junction. I was at the bus stop by 12.15p.m. -
no 295 untul 12.35 and that only went as far as Wandsworth Bridge. Only
after another 10 minutes did one bound for Clapham Junction arrive - a
total of 40 minutes' wait.

The "three in a row" syndrome is alive and kicking!

It beggars belief that this is considered an adequate "service" by
anyone.

I'd encourage you to submit a complaint
(https://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/contact_form.asp). I've also had very poor
experiences of buses on Wandsworth Bridge Rd (albeit at night on the
N28), where a couple of services in a row appear to be cancelled but
still run empty back up from the bridge towards Fulham - very
frustrating when the N28 frequency is every 30 mins.


--
Dave Arquati
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Thanks for the link to the form, Dave, which I have now saved to my
computer. I shall use it every time I experience such appalling service
- today I had to wait 50 minutes for a 28 bus at the same spot!

Marc.

Dave Arquati wrote:

I'd encourage you to submit a complaint
(https://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/contact_form.asp). I've also had very poor
experiences of buses on Wandsworth Bridge Rd (albeit at night on the
N28), where a couple of services in a row appear to be cancelled but
still run empty back up from the bridge towards Fulham - very
frustrating when the N28 frequency is every 30 mins.


For what good it'll do you! I've submitted multiple complaints about
route W6 (Edmonton Green - Southgate), primarily to do with early
running late at night once the service goes down to a half hourly frequency.

Each time, I've basically received the same response, "All the buses are
sent out of the garage on time. *waffle waffle* Traffic conditions mean
that buses sometimes run early. *waffle waffle* Never more than a minute
late in the past year."

As the old saying goes, "There's lies, damn lies, and statistics."

In this case, the statistics involve checks at just three points on the
route, namely the two termini and Palmers Green Station, over the
following shifts:

Mondays to Fridays: 0730 - 1000, 1000 - 1300, 1300 - 1600, 1600 - 1830
and 1830 - 2130
Saturdays: 1000 - 1300, 1400 - 1700
Sundays: 1400 - 1700

Which hardly gives an accurate picture of performance, particularly for
the "low frequency" hours.

Yet despite the evidence repeatedly presented to TfL, First have
retained the W6 contract every time it's been up for renewal!

Cheers,

Barry