Communicating service disruptions for Passenger Transport Operators
Communicating service disruptions for Passenger Transport Operators
Provide real-time updates on transport disruptions using online alerts, radio, and direct communication.
How to inform the relevant people when an operational issue occurs.
Reporting a service disruption
Whenever transport for school children or social service passengers fails, timely updates are essential
Service disruption may come in a variety of forms such as:
- failure to operate at all (as can sometimes be the case in the event of hazardous weather conditions)
- delays to service, whatever the cause
- unable to operate as scheduled, for example, unable to serve usual boarding/alighting points due to road closure
How to report a service disruption
Contact the Passenger Transport Team during office hours.
Contacting us outside of office hours
All drivers must carry fully charged mobile phones. In the event that your driver:
- is operating the route but is running late
- considers it impossible to operate the route at all
- considers it necessary to make changes to the route (e.g. miss out certain boarding points)
Telephone: 0345 600 6400 (the caller may be greeted by a member of the Fire & Rescue Service if the call is made very early in the morning).
They should do this when safe and provide the customer service adviser with the following information:
- route number and description, for example route 807 Shilbottle to Alnwick Schools
- name of bus company or taxi operator that the driver works for
- a short summary of the problem for example service cancelled due to road conditions; service running 30 minutes late due to poor road surface; route diverted and will miss out the following stops, etc
This will enable the customer service adviser to immediately publish an "alert" on:
The public should check these sites during bad weather for updates and announcements of closures.
Local radio stations are also a useful source of information during periods of adverse weather. For example, Metro Radio and Radio Newcastle offer a service for publicising school closure details. Radio Borders provides a similar service for the north of the county.
Contact with the customer service advisers in the council's contact centre should be made after 7am. It is only from 7am each morning that they can accept this information. However, doing so will allow real-time information regarding service disruption to be communicated to all passengers.
In cases where you provide transport for just a few passengers, communicating directly with their families during periods of service disruption is appropriate. However, their school/day centre and ourselves should always be kept informed as well.
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