This is an appeal to all of our customers, and all who want to see Lothian Buses thrive again.
As a society we’ve gone from standing on doorsteps, applauding key workers and paying tribute to their efforts, to a much less tolerant approach. It’s present wherever you look – in shops, restaurants, and most definitely on buses. It seems many people are less patient, less accepting and much less forgiving.
I know that our service isn’t always delivering for our customers as it should be right now and I’m sorry. It’s definitely not how we as a company want it to be and I know we still have work to do to get it right. I know how frustrating it is to wait at a bus stop only for the bus not to turn up or to watch the street tracker increase the number of minutes’ wait when it should be counting down.
Please be assured that Lothian Buses is doing everything possible to get back to operating the reliable bus services that the people of Edinburgh expect and need.
To our customers… Please see our people as human beings – people who are at their place of work and are deserving of your respect and courtesy. Our drivers and other customer-facing people are seeing a huge increase in abusive behaviour.
It’s abhorrent and completely unacceptable. If you are frustrated with our service and feel that we have let you down, please remember that it’s not the fault of any individual colleague. They are doing their very best in incredibly difficult circumstances.
And to our colleagues… I am truly sorry that your working day looks as it does just now. I know that you are the people who have remained loyal to Lothian Buses and continue to come to work in very difficult circumstances.
Please know that we are doing everything possible to recruit the drivers we need and to retain the ones we have. We are running an extensive recruitment campaign, we’ve evolved our training programme, we are adding new benefits to our employment offering, and we are working hard to modernise rotas so that we can offer a better work/life balance.
We are slowly turning a corner with driver shortages, and we will get back to being a service that customers can rely on.
And in the meantime…
Please bear with us, and with our people.
Sarah Boyd
Managing Director, Lothian Buses
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