Bus awards, worthwhile?

 

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.

    

Omnibus World