Better Buses

“Bus consistently arrives late, app is terrible and worst of all they charged me £375 for a brand new pass when I lost my old one.”

“Lost my bus pass in Term 1 and it won't be replaced for a minimal cost. When I'm having to list an inability to afford to come into university since I can't afford to buy a new bus pass as a reason for missing my seminars, then clearly Stagecoach don't care about us students at all. And contrary to their statements, upon reporting my pass lost I was told by multiple Stagecoach employees that policy is now no longer to issue replacements - zero consideration or review, just a blanket refusal.”

“I misplaced my pass 4 days before their new policy. I was waiting to buy a new pass due to it hopefully being handed in (which occurred 2 weeks later) - when I went to try get my replacement I was informed that the policy had changed due to students being fraudulent, selling one of their passes off and keeping the other. It's not us being fraudulent - it's the bus staff being lazy. If they were to check that the student number on the pass matched with their student card, instead of stopping replacements, they would have the same effect, and keep the students happy! ??”

“This is a poorly run service who seem to be out to rip off students rather than provide a good service which ultimately would be more profitable. The replacement for the pass costing the same as a full 3 terms is absolutely incredulous and a horrendous way to incentivise students to utilise your bus services. I don't see how this is allowed and it seems like a nasty way of making money off unfortunate students - if you lose your bank card you don't have to pay the worth of your account to reclaim it. Also, the bus times are very inconsistent, the amount of times I've had to take a bus far too early to arrive, and still arriving late is ridiculous. More U1s are needed in the morning to make 9ams.

My housemate experienced the frustration of losing her bus pass. Stagecoach told her she had to buy a new one (despite her already paying for all 3 terms). She decided to take action and complain further up the chain of command, which took months. In this time, she spent hundreds of pounds on single and return tickets, to which eventually she was able to obtain a new pass for a fee. However, the cumulative amount she spent on travel due to Stagecoach's slow replies was outrageous. Horrible company, horrible service.”

“It is absolutely unfair that we have to pay £301 again for a lost bus pass.”

“I can't afford the £301 for a bus pass; each year I have to ask my grandparents, which is humiliating. I work two part time jobs at uni. I live in constant anxiety of losing my pass, and when I thought I had lost it I burst straight in to tears because I didn't know how I'd cope replacing it. If I'm going to have to pay that amount, the buses should at least turn up with enough capacity so I don't have to wait at the top of the Parade for one with space.”

"In terms of lost passes, it is a joke - my friend and flatmate who struggles financially had to stay at home some days of the week, missing contact hours, and use of the library, because she lost her pass and was unable to afford daily travel into university, let alone a new bus pass.”

"I lost my bus pass and was told there was no chance of it being replaced and so switched to termly bus passes as I felt it was too risky to buy another multiple-term one. This cost me far more per term than a multi-term one would have cost me, on top of the huge fee I’d already paid for my initial 3-term bus pass. Outrageous!"

“Buses stop too early and make me not want to go out on campus!”

“At the stop by Ranelagh Terrace the times shown do not match bus times. Live times are needed. The bus is always full and always late. The U12 should run for a shorter time. It is not necessary at 8.20 to have this as it is clear that the A46 is not blocked with traffic.”

“I spent four years taking the U1 to and from Leamington. I consistently struggled to get on full buses in the morning and it became the norm to have several full buses drive past Gibbet Hill in the evening, leaving me stranded for over an hour most of the time. “the bus times are very inconsistent, the amount of times I've had to take a bus far too early to arrive, and still arriving late is ridiculous. More U1s are needed in the morning to make 9ams”

“Waiting for an hour to get a bus for a 9am lecture, while the first stop opposite Parish Church has at least a hundred people waiting. Then a single decker bus turns up. There needs to be a double decker service AT LEAST every 10 minutes.”

“Being crammed in like sardines on a bus getting to campus for 9am lectures - MORE BUSES NEED TO RUN AT THESE VITAL TIMES.”

“Terrible service, never on time. The buses are too crammed, they need to send buses more frequently”

“No consistency or regard for when students will need the bus the most. A more frequent service is needed on a Wednesday night before one of the biggest Students’ Union nights of the week, but every week there are queues of people waiting for a bus which they are unlikely to get on, and which will make them late. When the Real Ale society needed more buses, they apparently got in touch with the provider who allowed for more buses to run that night to allow people to get back. The same needs to be done for other SU nights.”

“Being stranded on campus after the last bus to Leam on a Wednesday night after Pop, as EVERYONE wants to get on that bus… a better night service is needed.”

“Stagecoach does not adapt its bus schedule for Term 3...it is clear that the vast majority of students will have to be at campus for morning or afternoon exams, so additional buses should be deployed. At least one or two U1 buses should leave Leamington before 9am to allow quick travel to campus for 9am seminars.”

“As a PhD student who has to use Stagecoach during vacation, I feel I have an extra right to rage. The timetable outside of term-time is an absolute joke. In the morning, during rush hour, they have buses at 8:09 and 8:10 and then nothing until 8:45 - even though buses are every 15 minutes after that! It makes absolutely no sense that buses become more regular after rush hour. I have written to Stagecoach about this and then every vacation timetable is released and it's the same. Then there's the fact that buses regularly do not turn up during the vacations, and when there's only one or two an hour it can completely ruin your travel plans.”

“A few days after term ended, I was going back to Leamington after spending time on campus and I ended up outside in the freezing cold at the interchange for almost an hour waiting for a bus. The out of term-time bus frequency is ridiculous.”