Continuous bus delays and cancellations have left one frustrated commuter late for work, unaware of timings, and needlessly paying double fares.
Justyna relies on the the 415 Arriva service to take her to and from the York Designer Outlet from her Selby home.
She recounted a typically frustrating journey on Tuesday when the 7.08am service didn’t arrive until 7.35am.
Arriving 20 minutes late for work, Justyna had to agree with her managers to shorten her break, which is becoming a regular occurrence.
She wrote on a Selby Facebook forum: “Really fed up with this Arriva joke company. Bus cancelled due to a driver shortage, I was told.
“I’m standing like an idiot in this weather for 27 minutes at a bus stop and going to work completely soaked.
“Really sick of it being late for work non stop, even leaving earlier than I normally should!”
The 415 Arriva bus covers the route from York city centre into Selby, going through Fulford, Escrick, Barlby, and neighbouring villages.
Justyna told YorkMix how bad she feels the bus services are becoming for Selby residents like herself.
“This is only one of many more situations like these. I commute on this bus on a daily basis to work, at different times as I’m working shifts, and they are constantly late or cancelled,” she said.
“No information is passed to passengers about cancellations, even though the company has an Arriva app with live times, which is a joke as it never gives live timings.”
Recruiting drivers
YorkMix spoke to Arriva, who told us the reason for the delay on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, this trip was cancelled because our driver was unwell.
“In these circumstances, we do our best to minimise any disruption to our customers and we will always try to find a replacement driver, but unfortunately this is not always possible.
“We’ve been actively recruiting additional bus drivers to work at our Selby depot, and we’ve got some new drivers who are in our training school preparing to take their test.”
Justyna’s post on Facebook caused quite a stir.
Some people agreed with the post, stating they too have an issue with the buses. “It’s not fair on people that have to use the service to go to work”, one passenger wrote.
Another responded, “Try living in Eggborough, buses every 2 hours (when they turn up), none after 6pm, and none on a Sunday.”
However, a few commenters argued that there’s good reason for driver shortages, with the conditions not worth the rate of pay, “Would you drive a bus with up to 72 passengers on it, with constant moaning, abuse, traffic conditions, cold in winter, No AC in summer, for little more than £11 an hour?”
The York to Selby 415 route has recently been updated at the start of September, with buses running every 20-30 minutes until evening hours, where they’re run on an hourly basis.
However, Justyna believes the timetables need updating with more regular services. “One of my shifts ends at around 8.45pm, the services run at 8.30pm, and the next is 9.30pm.
“The majority of staff from the outlet also commute at the same time. In order not to wait at the bus stop for 45 minutes I took a bus to York at 9pm and returned on the same service, paying double fare,” she told YorkMix.
Do you regularly commute via buses? Let us know your thoughts at [email protected].