Bus driver shortage 'cutting off' rural communities

A shortage of drivers is causing bus operators to cancel services in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

The boss of First West of England said the problems were "unlike any other the UK transport industry has faced".

The causes include Covid and Brexit, as well as strike action at the DVLA, sickness and other companies "poaching" their drivers.

The West of England Combined Authority mayor Dan Norris has described the situation a public transport "crisis".

Dave Redgewell, a public transport campaigner told a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council in September that "a lot of buses are being cancelled," according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He added "including services that day to Yate, Kingswood, Severn Beach, Bristol Parkway, Southmead, Avonmouth, Shirehampton, Cribbs Causeway, Thornbury, Tytherington and Chipping Sodbury."

Rachel Geliamassi, the managing director of Stagecoach West said: "We are continuing to run over 95 per cent of our timetabled services and have firm plans in place to return to full services as quickly as possible."

Doug Claringbold, the managing director of First West of England said: "First West of England is, regrettably, currently experiencing some reliability issues in its registered timetables.

"However, over the coming weeks, we are looking to plan and publish any cancellations in advance, avoiding busy buses, less frequent services such as those in rural areas, and last buses - we want to make our services as predictable as possible.

"We will also be working with Weca to try to provide improved information on 'real time information' boards at bus stops."

It has not provided details of the scale of its service cancellations to date.