Dear Arriva,
I am writing and publishing this open letter to complain about
the (lack of) service you seem to be providing in Cleveland and the North
Yorkshire coast area of England.
Firstly in many bus stops that have both electronic and
paper timetables the times advertised differ leaving travellers not knowing
which one is accurate.
Last weekend I travelled from Middlesbrough to Whitby on
both the Friday and the Saturday and found the service to be appalling.
The electronic timetables in Middlesbrough bus station
stated that the busses started at 08.50, however the first bus arrived at 09.20
on both days leaving a large crowd waiting in Middlesbrough bus station waiting
for a bus which didn’t come (93 bus).
On the way back on the Saturday I found myself in an
argument with a driver who after seeing my return Whitby Middlesbrough ticket (number
4 bus) failed to notify me that the bus in fact terminated at Redcar, when the
front of the bus stated the destination was travelling to Middlesbrough via
Loftus. When I confronted the driver he informed me that I should have asked
when I got on if the bus was going to Middlesbrough, which I do not believe I
should have to do:
Firstly I should not have to ask to confirm that a bus is
travelling to the destination its front sign claims it is travelling to.
Secondly by presenting a Whitby-Middlesbrough return ticket
to the driver, as far as I am concerned I did precisely that.
He also told me that I should have looked at the timetable
in the bus station in Whitby, which at the stop he had parked in only had
information for the 93 and x93 service; when I told him this he told me that
that is the councils responsibility.
If I did not have money for a second ticket to take me the
rest of the journey the misinformation provided would have left me stranded in
a neighboring town on a Saturday night.
