(17 Oct 2022, 3:25 pm)Adrian wrote As I say, they're nailing their own coffin shut here. Once upon a time, people would have no choice but to pay whatever increase is thrown at them, whether that be 5%, 15% or 100%. Bus operators don't wield that power that they once had, when so many people now have the option to work from home. Personally speaking, I've already dropped my optional days and will only head in when I absolutely need to. 

A business model based on repeatedly punishing existing customers, as oppose to organic growth, doesn't sound very sustainable to me.

Indeed, as I've alluded to in the past, my role is People Management with a strong Engagement Focus and public transport is and has always been a concern for Colleagues. Pre-Covid not as much but culture has changed.

Covid was an issue as Colleagues weren't confident with the safety aspect, then we had reliabiltiy and now we've got a mix of cost and reliability. We're heavily incentivising e-bikes, car shares and private transport at the moment as its what Colleagues want. 

But equally we're seeing the office days drop to once and in many cases one day a month - this will not help that change and in my smallish area head count of sub 5,000 - I know thats repeated across much much bigger organisations - it is all adding up.