A York shopping centre worker says the bus service she depends on is so unreliable it is affecting her wellbeing.
Selby resident Justyna says problems with the 415 Arriva bus service means she has had to turn down job opportunities, is continuously late for work and has wasted hours waiting at bus stops.
This has had a “huge negative impact” on her mental health – and she’s desperate for a change.
Last month, Justyna got in touch with YorkMix to report on the delays, but she believes nothing has yet been done.
She has worked full time at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet for a year and a half, and commutes from Selby to York using the 415 at least five times a week.
The 415 Arriva bus covers the route from York city centre into Selby, going through Fulford, Escrick, Barlby, and neighbouring villages.
Justyna said: “I live close to the bus stop, so it should take me half an hour to 40 minutes. Now it’s taking me an hour and a half to get to work most days.”
She is regularly half an hour late on a morning, meaning time is taken out of her break during her nine hour shift.
Although her managers sympathise, the delays are costing Justyna valuable job progression.
“I’m really lucky to have very understanding managers, but I had an opportunity now to go to a higher position, but that position involves opening the shop in the morning.
“I can’t even commit to that, because I cannot tell them that I’m gonna be there at that time.” she told us.
Justyna was unfortunately involved in a car accident a few years ago and suffers from PTSD because of it. This means she is unable to drive, and travelling via bus is her only option.
She has spent weeks getting in touch with Arriva, but is yet to receive an answer she can rely on.
“It’s basically every day, the same story, 7:07AM service is hardly ever coming, and there’s no information anywhere that the service has been cancelled or what’s going on.
“Their app is not working properly, it doesn’t show the times that it should show, it’s supposed to be live timings, but it’s not.
“I’ve tried to ring them, they keep on saying that they are short of staffed and that they are recruiting. But I spoke to one of the drivers who said the people they recruit are quitting after completing the course, to find higher paid jobs.” Justyna said.
Justyna said: “I know it’s not the drivers, I’m sure they are fed up with listening to every single person complaining to them, but I’m not going to put up with this!”
‘We are struggling’
The stresses of continuous late starts have really taken a toll on Justyna, and she describes the ordeal as a ‘nightmare’. She told YorkMix about how it’s impacting her mental health.
“I’m getting stressed, like the other day when I was half an hour at work, that’s half of my break gone.
“The store is really busy, and I’m responsible for quite a few things. I’m not only selling, but I’m also doing displays so I’m really busy.
“I basically spend all the time on my feet, and that one hour break for me is really important to have. So to shorten my break because of someone else’s fault, it just drives me nuts.”
Following our last article, Arriva ensured they were doing all they can to improve services.
Their statement read: “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.”
This time, Arriva have told YorkMix, “Despite over 200 new drivers joining Arriva Yorkshire this year alone, we are struggling to deliver all our timetabled services.
“We continue to recruit and train more drivers and we are committed to expanding our workforce further.”
They have also highlighted the fact that this is nationwide issue, with the Department of Transport recognising the well-documented shortage of bus drivers.
Arriva encourages anyone who would like to apply for a role to do so here.