An under-fire Dundee bus boss has claimed the majority of the travelling public are happy with the service they receive and that most of the complaints come from elderly people demanding a doorstep service.
National Express Dundee director Lawrence Davie has been under pressure since the firm made wholesale changes to its routes in the city in June. Many of the changes most notably in Broughty Ferry and the west end have proved to be extremely unpopular.
But on Thursday Mr Davie said commuter groups provided the bulk of his company’s income and complaints about the changes had been few and far between from them. He said negative feedback generally came from passengers in the 70-plus age bracket who made up a much smaller proportion of the company’s customer base and tended to want a doorstep service.
The comments came a day after Mr Davie cited business commitments in Birmingham for his failure to appear at a Broughty Ferry community planning partnership meeting a move that angered at least 40 people who had turned out to discuss their dissatisfaction with local bus services.
A new meeting has been scheduled at Mr Davie’s request and will take place at 6pm next Wednesday at Castle Green pavilion in Broughty Ferry.
Mr Davie said, “The key people that use the business are the people going back and forward to work. We totally understand the needs of older people but their patronage of the buses is much, much, smaller than say the block of people in their 20s and 30s travelling to work.”
He continued, “We know there are little areas we can tweak and change but when you are dealing with the older sector they are people who want buses past their front door and I simply cannot put buses past their front door.”
Mr Davie’s comments provoked outrage from Broughty Ferry’s elected representatives.
Councillor Rod Wallace who earlier sent Mr Davie a 360-strong petition from Barnhill residents concerned about their bus services said the remarks were “disgraceful”.
He also said the argument that National Express Dundee focused on commuters was flawed as the company recently dropped the 14 service to hundreds of working families in the Panmurefield area.
Councillor Derek Scott said, “I am astounded by this response from Mr Davie. In all my years as a councillor I have never known an issue to have generated so much anger from the local community.
“I have received two petitions signed by more than 400 Broughty Ferry residents such is the strength of feeling about it.
“It is not just pensioners who have approached me but working age people as well who are finding it difficult to get to their destinations, either because the bus is late or they have to get a connecting bus which they didn’t have to do before.”