Our Chair met with Charlton Thornhill of Arriva to build the relationship between the Medway Youth Council and Arriva. Following Thomas’s report from last year we asked questions to learn of what improvements are being made since this report was published in 2018.
The mobile app will undergo changes with a new supplier which can result in live service updates being provided through a notification system. This is hoped to be released within the next two years.
The issue of buses leaving their stop earlier than timetabled, especially on school buses was raised and we are pleased to hear that the new Contactless Ticket system operates a traffic light system to ensure a driver does not leave their stop early, we therefore anticipate that this issue raised by young people may be an issue of the past.
Last year we found around 80% of Arriva services were running on time and we learnt that this has increased since then due to operational reliability improvements, mechanics, active service management, and depot teams have been a factor in this improvement.
At the end of April there will also be a network punctuality review, during this time we can expect to see workshops, leaflets, and press releases to inform customers of changes to their times.
Overall we are pleased that MYC has this link to Arriva which remains a topic young people are passionate about, we will continue to work with them to ensure the views of young people are heard.
