It is very seldom that I respond to other blog post, but a
recent post from Roger French in his excellent Bus & Train User ( https://busandtrainuser.com/ ) got my hackles
up. Not the general content, which as usual was insightful, but the reference
to industry awards and in particular UK Bus Awards.
In November 2022 Blackpool Transport won bus operator of the
year, which in my experience must be one of the least deserving companies I can
think of. As I said in my response to the article, on a recent visit the buses
were dirty and the staff non responsive to the passenger. The whole attitude of
industry awards is one I find perplexing, is the travelling public convinced by
the bus and coach industry blowing its own trumpet.
The UK Bus Awards website states ‘Panels of industry experts
are examining the entries and making their judgement’. This perhaps highlights
the blinkered nature of those within the industry, unable to see the product
from the outside, customers perspective. Or is it an indictment of the recruitment
policy for senior management within the passenger transport industry. Where
once recruits had enthusiasm for their chosen careers, today selection comes
from anybody who has achieved a degree, regardless of the subject matter, a
manager is a manager, be it buses or burgers.
It is unfair to single out Blackpool, over the years awards
have been given to many operators/managers who in the world are less than
outstanding. What I find more difficult to comprehend is the number of categories
within these awards, twenty-one in 2022. Everybody stands a chance of winning
something, some categories make little sense whilst others award achievements that
in reality have minimum effect on society or the environment. Why for instance
reward an operator for environmental achievement that may involve half-a-dozen vehicles
in a town or city that sees perhaps a hundred operating. Is it right to award
one London bus driver for their work when the majority are lacklustre, would it
not be more appropriate to reward a training environment that improves the
whole sector, something the travelling public might see the benefit of.
One thing is for certain, no one will stand up and denounce any of these industry awards all the time they stand a chance of winning. Puffed out chest and trumpet blowing win out every time.
