Teamwork!

Now, its certainly not everyday that you hear of First Devon and Cornwall, and Plymouth Citybus working in partnership! In fact, its rare enough to see any of the Big 5 subsidiaries working with another. So when Plymouth Citybus posted the following, I was quite taken by surprise:


"During the duration of the road closure affecting our Oreston services 5 and 5A First Devon and Cornwall have kindly agreed to accept key cards as flash passes on their service 2 for customers boarding or alighting at bus stops in Plymstock Road, Randwick Park Road, Foresters Road, Pomphlett Close and Pomphlett Gardens ONLY. Thank you FDC."

Well, what can I say, what a lovely gesture. Its certainly something I'd like to see more of, as I'm sure any passenger would. Many people ask bus companies if there is joint ticketing available between FDC and PCB, and of course, the answer is no. This isn't really a surprise, that's the whole point of their being two bus companies in Plymouth, to keep competition within the industry, so that the passenger should receive a higher quality of service across the board. But certainly in situations such as this, it would be great to see the companies working together to deliver passenger's the best service possible. Its at the root in situations like this, that because of the delays passengers may receive, or the missing of their all important deadlines for whatever it ends up being, that people stop using public transport, and move into private transport! 

For the greater good, FDC may not be making money directly doing this, but almost undoubtedly, it will mean people will stick to using a bus service rather than using the car, full stop, or will encourage people to use FDC's services in the future. Its a win win situation for the industry as a whole, and that's the important factor in this. Many people call for companies to make it 'easier' for people to interlink with buses and trains, and that they should operate under the bracket "Public transport", rather than in competition with each other, or without 'care' for each other. Its all about making it easier for the passenger, to keep them there. A passenger lost is hard to bring back.