First Aberdeen needs to intervene and ensure its extremely busy services to Garthdee are more reliable for students and residents alike, an MSP has argued after months of transport troubles.
Ever since students started returning to their studies at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Garthdee, the number 1 and 2 services have both been jam-packed with passengers.
In many cases, students have had to watch multiple full buses sail past them as they wait on Union Street to get a bus to campus in the hopes they will be able to attend their lectures in time.
And residents living in the Garthdee area and nearby communities have complained about the impact of the busy services on their ability to get out and about, and attend important appointments.
Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart has now written to First Aberdeen’s head of operations, highlighting concerns about the jam-packed services and the impact it is having on his constituents.
‘Just not reliable’
In his letter to David Adam, head of operations at First Aberdeen, Mr Stewart has asked what is being done to “address the current situation with the capacity on the route”.
The MSP said: “People need to rely on public transport, and unfortunately the 1 and 2 bus service is just not reliable at this time.
“That’s causing problems for people getting to university, work, medical appointments, and a wild range of other places where they need to be.
“This has been going on for two months and it’s worrying that it hasn’t been sorted yet.
“It is particularly worrying to hear about people with disabilities and medical conditions not being able to get on the bus, and missing medical appointments.
“It seems that the bus is just not stopping at times between the city centre and RGU, and those living in the communities in between are being left in the lurch.”
Mr Stewart said he thinks that “ideally” first should invest in the route to address demand from passengers.
But he continued: “If that’s going to take some time, then they need to look at what they can do in the interim.
“We cannot have a situation where whole communities are being excluded from a bus service.”
What does First say about the Garthdee bus problems?
A spokesman for First Aberdeen said the company is “aware of some capacity issues that have arisen along the route services of the 1 and 2.”
He said First regrets “any inconvenience that customers have experienced during busy times along the route”, and explained that the operator has put in place a “number of measures to boost capacity throughout the day”.
These measures, according to the First Aberdeen spokesman, have been established with the intention that “everyone can use the service whenever they need to”.
They include the following:
- “Street teams” being deployed at key bus stops along routes to assist with “passenger loadings”.
- “Regular dialogue” with representatives from RGU, to look at footfall from those travelling to and from their Garthdee campus
- The introduction of a number of duplicate vehicles over and above the normal timetable, in order to “meet demand and provide additional capacity across the route”.
The spokesman added: “The additional trips that we’ve introduced throughout the day have been deployed with the local communities between Garthdee and the city centre in mind.
“We are continuing to monitor passenger volumes across the entire operation of services 1 and 2, and we’ll continue to deploy additional resources to meet demand in a way that benefits everyone along the routes. ”
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