A teenager claims she has had to get a taxi to school everyday this week as a result of the newly-introduced bus timetable.
Stagecoach rolled out their timetable this week for the 7B service between Aberdeen and Stonehaven, which goes via Portlethen and Newtonhill.
They also made changes to the 7A Aberdeen to Stonehaven route, which calls in at Altens, Portlethen and Newtonhill.
Already, councillors say they had received a “huge” list of complaints about the changes – with the 7A now no longer stopping in Altens at prime commuter time, 5pm.
And last night, Mackie Academy pupil Iona Dean claimed that the bus just did not turn up in on Monday or Tuesday morning – leaving her with no option but to get a taxi.
The 14-year-old, who travels from Newtonhill to Stonehaven every day, used to be able to get dropped off outside the school but the revised service only now stops in the town square at 7.55am.
Iona said she waited more than half an hour for the 7B on Monday, before calling a taxi to avoid being late.
When the same happened on Tuesday, she “didn’t bother even trying” to get a bus on a Wednesday, and ordered a taxi instead.
She claimed: “All the other children from Newtonhill who attend Mackie Academy now get lifts from parents due to the unreliability of the buses.
“The new timetable is very confusing and the bus no longer goes past the school – I have to walk up from the town centre. It also takes me much longer to get home and I have lost count of the amount of times I had to get taxis last year due to the bus being late. It has continually got worse.”
And one commuter voiced his frustration that he was now unable to get a bus back home to Portlethen after 4.15pm.
He said: “I now have to either walk down West Tullos Road to catch a southbound bus, or catch a bus into town to get a bus back to Portlethen as the last bus via Altens is at 4.15pm – clearly this is absurd.”
Local councillor Ian Mollison said last night it was every commuters “worst nightmare” and that he has already written to Stagecoach to complain.
He said: “The new timetables do not appear to suit people. I have had a huge list of complaints, not just this week, but in previous years too. The Altens 5pm route has now been cancelled and people are struggling to get home from work.”
Fellow North Kincardine representative Alison Evison called for the re-regulation of buses by the government, adding: “These buses are certainly not being run with enough consideration for the passengers who depend on them to get to work or to study.”
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach North Scotland said: “Regrettably we had an unusually high level of driver sickness on Monday morning which affected some journeys.
“We are continuing to monitor services and are actively investigating delays as our staff and customers adjust to the new timetables.”