The Express & Star talk to the people of Brierley Hill about buses and how often they're late.
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00:00New data has revealed around 20% of bus journeys in the West Midlands in a three-month period failed to be on time.
00:07A report to the West Midlands Combined Authorities Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee this week
00:14showed 79.6% of buses were on time in the second quarter of last year July to September.
00:22It comes as West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has announced franchising of buses
00:27with a public consultation taking place in the early months of 2025.
00:33We're going to find out what people think of the West Midlands buses on Briley Hill High Street.
00:39Veronica, your bus is due very shortly, Veronica G. Where are you going to on the bus?
00:46Merrihill.
00:47Right, and you told me, I don't know if it was a joke, but the bus is already late.
00:51Yes, the bus is eight minutes late.
00:53Right, and how do you find the buses generally travelling around the black country in the West Midlands in terms of time?
01:00When you want one, they don't come on time, and when you do not want one, you see a load of them.
01:05Right.
01:06That sometimes happens.
01:07How often do you use them? Do you use them every day?
01:09Not daily, every week at least.
01:12Right, and is that for going to work or to friends?
01:15Yeah, up and down.
01:16Yeah, and what service do you use in the main?
01:20They'd be the 6, it'd be the X10, it'd be the 126 to Birmingham, the X8 to Birmingham, sometimes the 8 to Merrihill, and some of them sorts of buses.
01:34Do you find any particular one is bad at timekeeping or generally?
01:39The 6.
01:40The 6, okay. That's room for improvement.
01:43Usually the X10 is on time, to be fair, and the ones that go to Birmingham are generally on time.
01:49But it depends what time you catch the bus, so when it's rush hour, it's going to more than likely be late.
01:53Yeah.
01:54Or in the morning when school time, buses are sometimes late as well.
01:57And I don't know if you know, but the West Midlands Mayor's launched a consultation on privatising the buses, franchising the buses.
02:05Obviously it's National Express, West Midlands mainly at the moment.
02:09Do you think that'll improve the situation? More competition, if you like?
02:14Not sure, but I'd hope so.
02:16And we're here with Kevin Jakeman from Starbridge. Are you waiting for the bus back to Starbridge now?
02:21Yeah.
02:22How do you find the... is it the...
02:246.
02:25Yeah, the number 6. How do you find that generally?
02:28Generally it runs on time, but most of the time it's late, about 5 or 10 minutes late.
02:33Right. Does that bother you, 5 or 10 minutes?
02:36Nah.
02:37No. You get used to it?
02:38I get used to it, yeah.
02:39How often do you use the bus?
02:42Two or three times a week.
02:45Right. And is that to come up to Briley Hill for shopping?
02:48Yeah.
02:49Yeah. Because it's done quite well, Briley Hill, hasn't it?
02:52Yeah.
02:53They've done the refurbishment.
02:54They've done the refurbishment, yeah.
02:56But the West Midlands Mayor is talking about franchising the buses.
02:59Yeah.
03:00More competition, different companies coming in. Do you think that would improve the situation?
03:04It might do. Yeah, it might do.
03:08Yeah. On the buses, do you generally think the service is good?
03:15I think it's good, yeah. It's good service.
03:18It gets good drivers and car business people, yeah.
03:23Normally it runs on time or works out fine.
03:26I mean, I guess, do you come here for shopping, that kind of thing?
03:29Shopping, yeah.
03:30So you probably don't mind a 5 or 10 minute delay.
03:32If it was work, it might be different.
03:34Yeah.
03:35But have you got friends and family who use the buses?
03:37Yeah. My sister and big brother, he comes from Calgary.
03:42Yeah.
03:43And he uses the number 6 and comes down to visit me every week.
03:47How do they find the service, or do they not say?
03:51They don't say.
03:52Probably OK then?
03:54Yeah, it's normally run alright.
03:56Alright, well thanks for talking to us and up the wolves.
03:59OK, thank you.
04:00OK.
04:01It's a bit poor sometimes.
04:05I was waiting for a bus the other day and it was about 5 or 10 minutes late.
04:09Yeah. Does that bother you too much?
04:12Sometimes if I've got to go to appointments.
04:14Yeah, yeah.
04:15What about other services? Do you use other services across the Black Country?
04:19Yes, I use the Diamond buses, number 25, and they're quite good.
04:23They're on time most of the time.
04:25Right.
04:26Because one of the things is the West Midlands Mayor is talking about franchising,
04:30bringing in other companies to run buses such as Diamond.
04:34Do you think that would be a good thing? Do you think that would improve the situation?
04:37I do, yes.
04:39Yeah.
04:40But a 5 or 10 minute delay is not really going to put you off.
04:44Are you a motorist at all?
04:45No.
04:46No, so you rely on the buses or public transport as well.
04:49Yeah.
04:50So do you think generally across the board the service is good, apart from the obvious delay?
04:55Yeah, it's good, yeah.