Article: Bus complaint rates revealed

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Bus complaint rates revealed

Bus complaint rates revealed
Daniel Hurst
January 11, 2012 - 3:00AM

Residents from the Sunshine Coast, Redcliffe and areas south of Brisbane appear to be the most vocal about bus service problems and issues.

A private report, which TransLink accidentally posted on its website last week before removing it a short time later, includes a breakdown of which operators in the southeast Queensland transport network received the most feedback as a share of traveller numbers.

Redcliffe operator Hornibrook Bus Lines, Sunshine Coast Sunbus, and Park Ridge Transit (which runs services in the Park Ridge, Browns Plains and Beaudesert areas) received the most feedback per capita in July, August and September 2011.

TransLink's quarterly report for Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk shows those operators had three or more pieces of feedback per 10,000 customers they served.

Veolia (which operates services in the Redlands) and Westside Bus Company (Ipswich, Redbank and Goodna) were next on the list with about 2.5 pieces of feedback per 10,000 passengers.

TransLink was yesterday unable to quantify how much of the feedback featured complaints.

Queensland Rail and Brisbane City Council ferries and buses had a relatively low level of feedback.

The report says rail and ferry operators receive less feedback through TransLink than bus operators "although it should be noted that Queensland Rail in particular receive feedback through their own internal processes".

The document also shows a big spike in complaints related to Go Card system provider Cubic in mid-2011, coinciding with a tougher fixed fare policy that increased penalties for those who failed to properly touch on or off with their smartcards.

But it says Go Card-related complaints dropped after the introduction of a new call centre policy "which now allows for first-call resolution of refunds".

A TransLink spokesman said the streamlined policy meant customers could now have their adjustments handled more promptly over the phone, usually in one call.

He said the public transport authority always welcomed feedback about services and that included both complaints and compliments.

The spokesman said the report for the minister, an expanded version of the quarterly TransLink Tracker public document, showed transport in across the region operated "at a high standard".

TransLink was "working with smaller operators to continue to meet customer needs".

TransLink is required to prepare a quarterly report for the Transport Minister but it is not usually posted on its website alongside the public "Tracker" documents.

The report was taken down from the TransLink website last week but not before it had been downloaded.

The report for Ms Palaszczuk says the latest Cubic data about Go Card gates on the railway network suggest 99.3 per cent system availability, compared with the 98.5 per cent target.

Stand-alone card interface devices reported a 99.9 per cent level of availability, just on target, while add-value vending machines registered 99.35 per cent availability.

The public Tracker reports do not currently include detailed data about Go Card faults.

The TransLink spokesman said the organisation expected to integrate extra information in the Tracker reports in the future.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bus-complaint-rates-revealed-20120110-1ptfk.html#ixzz1j4sjMTJ4