RGU students in Aberdeen have been contending with major issues getting to their lectures on time due to jam-packed buses.
If you’ve been down Union Street in the morning recently, you will no doubt have seen major queues at the bus stops for the First Bus services to Garthdee and Robert Gordon University.
From about 8am onwards, large groups of students can be seen waiting in hope of boarding a bus and getting to their studies without being late.
But currently, many buses simply drive past them with a message of apology displayed saying that they are full.
Students struggling to get to lectures on time
At around 8.30am yesterday, we spoke with some of the students in the large queue for the RGU-bound services at a bus stop on Union Street, near the Amarone restaurant.
Rafal Baranowski, 24, and Sophie Graham, 20, both said they’ve had a lot of trouble getting to university in a timely manner recently, despite their best efforts.
The pair, who are studying international business management, said their lectures have on occasion been delayed in order to wait for students who were late because of the bus issues.
Sophie said: “Yesterday I made an effort to get up and be at the bus stop at 8am for my 9am, and still didn’t get on the bus until 8.40am, and it didn’t arrive until about 9.15am, so I was late for my lecture.
“It’s really annoying, because even when you get up earlier you’re still not making it on time, especially when you’ve got full days.”
Rafal added: “The last time we got the bus, we waited for about 40 minutes, there were like six buses going past saying they were full.
“I’d rather bike than take the bus, but today for example it’s going to rain, so I don’t want to risk cycling.”
And Oliver Henderson, who is studying quantity surveying and commercial management, added: “We got here at like 8am, and already five buses have gone past and they’ve all been full.”
What’s causing the problem, and is First doing anything about it?
David Adam, the head of operations for First Aberdeen, said since the start of the university term, there has been a “huge uplift in passenger numbers during peak times between 8am and 9am on weekdays”.
He continued: “We have significantly increased the number of buses running on our services 1 and 2 which service RGU along their routes.
“We are also running our highest capacity buses on these routes during this time with customer agents on Union Street to help with loading.”
The bus chief said that First will “continually review the resources we have available to us”, so that “route capacity best matches customer demand whenever possible”.
A spokesman for First Aberdeen said that the delays being faced by RGU students right now are not directly related to any issues with driver shortages.
RGU in contact with First to ‘improve student experience’
A spokesman for RGU said that the early stages of term time are “naturally busy periods”.
He continued: “RGU liaises closely with First Bus to ensure there’s appropriate bus provision for all of our students who require public transport to campus.
“As part of this engagement we are in contact with First Bus at the moment to improve student experience, and we will continue to do so.”
See also:
- First orders £8.1 million fleet of 24 electric buses to begin operating in Aberdeen
- Aberdeen woman claims First Bus rerouting has ‘cut’ community off from rest of city
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