Bus bosses ride with passengers

Directors and senior managers of a bus company are riding with passengers to find out what the public thinks of the services they provide.

First Eastern Counties says it hopes to learn what passengers see as priorities on improving vehicles and timetables.

The management team will also meet passengers at Norwich bus station for its "Delight the Customer" day.

The move comes a day after National Express East Anglia managers met passengers at Norwich rail station.

Alex Warner, business manager of First Buses UK, said he dreamed up the idea of managers to meet passengers while in the bath one night.

'Not hands-on'

He added: "Customer service, after safety, if our priority at FirstGroup so we want to get every manager, every supervisor and empty the head office and go out there and delight our customers.

"We're offering them some sweets, thanking them for travelling with us and asking them for their ideas.

"We want them to go home and tell a member of their family or a friend or colleague 'Wow, you'll never believe what happened on First Eastern Counties today'.

"People have their own perceptions of bus travel and we want to transform that."

Lee Howes, the operations manager for First Eastern Counties' Norwich depot, said: "We realise that we are not hands-on enough, and we have gone out to show the public we do care as individuals and we take pride in our services."