Ana’s on a learning curve IF YOU have the drive and ambition to succeed then there are plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder at Go-Ahead London…
Experience
Supportive
The tender routes of success n Continued from page 1
Retained services include Route 436 (Lewisham to Paddington) and Route 453 (Deptford Bridge to Marylebone), which will be converted from articulated operation to double deck vehicles (67 PVR) in the autumn. In a further boost, TfL has awarded Go-Ahead London Green Bus Fund money to purchase 31 hybrid vehicles as part of this award. Both routes will be run from New Cross garage. Route P12 (Surrey Quays to Brockley Rise) has been retained and will be operated with slightly longer vehicles to cope with passenger demand. The new contract will start in October and will operate from Peckham garage. Route W19 (Ilford to Walthamstow) has been retained and will operate with existing vehicles (8 PVR), but will move from Docklands to Blue 2
BusTalk l April 2011
Triangle garage. This contract starts in November. The company has also retained Route 89/ N89 (15 PVR), which goes from Lewisham station to Slade Green station. This will continue to be operated by Bexleyheath garage and the new contract will start on January 27 2012. With a PVR of seven vehicles, Route 413 (Morden to Sutton) is remaining with Go-Ahead London and will be run from Sutton garage. Route 655 (Mitcham Fair Green to Raynes Park High School) has also been retained and will be operated by Merton garage. The contracts start on December 3. Operations director David Cutts said: “This is obviously a great set of results and I would like to thank all staff for helping us to win and retain this work.”
THE company’s CPC course is gaining momentum with more drivers than ever receiving their training. Initially, there was just one IMPACT seminar being run by the training school, with 10-15 drivers in attendance, but now an additional training session has been introduced.
“It means that drivers won’t have to wait as long to attend this year’s course and they will be up to speed on the latest legislation and safety messages,” said training and development manager Eric Dale.
Double
IMPACT stands for Incident Management, Preventing Accidents & Cycle Tolerance. The course focuses on the importance of receiving and exchanging the correct details from a third party following an accident as
This is allowing double the number of drivers to achieve their requisite number of hours of periodic training.
Ana Morais is a prime example of an employee who has taken the chance to experience a number of different roles within the company. She joined Putney as a driver originally, but in recent times has enjoyed working as a service controller, working behind the counter at the garage and also assists with the downloading of CCTV data at Putney. “I really like helping out with the rail replacement services at the weekends. I’ve been carrying out the role of service controller and have been positioned in south London. “I like being out on the road and liaising with other drivers and members of the public,” said Ana.
She says that her colleagues have been “really supportive and helpful” in her wish to move up the career ladder. “It’s great to feel involved in all aspects of the business and I’m enjoying gaining as much experience as I can. “I was aware that there was room to grow with the company and I’d definitely recommend my colleagues to pursue other roles and additional training opportunities, too.”
Driver training sessions increased
It’s great to feel involved in all aspects of the business
well as giving drivers an insight into cycle tolerance.
Licence All drivers with “acquired rights” must complete their first block of 35 hours’ CPC training by September 9, 2013 to ensure their licence is valid.
IMPACT
Drivers show concern for aged Discussing the challenges elderly people face when using buses.
Driver mentor Paul Cooper found meeting with Age Concern really helpful.
Is your driving up with the best? GO-AHEAD London will shortly be inviting drivers to put themselves forward as candidates for the national Bus Driver of The Year competition. The event will take place on Sunday September 11 in Blackpool and will involve more than 100 of the best drivers in the bus industry from across the UK. Notices will be going up in garages shortly and will explain the competition criteria. The company will be selecting applicants based on a scoring system. This will include a driver’s length of service, his or her accident/discipline record and RIBAS scores. Driving Standards Agency observation reports and a driver’s attendance record will also be taken into consideration. Training and development manager Eric Dale said: “Once we have drawn up a shortlist of candidates we will then select the best of those for the final. “They will have the honour of representing Go-Ahead London at the national contest.”
UNDERSTANDING the needs of customers and putting across the views of drivers was the focus of a special event held at Merton in the spring. Representatives from Age UK attended the garage to discuss some of the challenges elderly people may face when travelling by bus.
complaints and a number of them were from elderly people. Inviting members from Age UK to the garage proved the perfect opportunity to find out what their concerns were. “We want to be able to serve all the different people who make up the community of bus users.”
Communicating
Helpful
It was also a chance for drivers to explain how passengers can help them provide a better service by communicating their needs. Operating manager Hannah Self said: “I looked through our recent customer
Paul Cooper has worked for the company for more than five years, (more than three of those as a driver mentor at Merton), and he said he found the visit really helpful. Paul said: “It was interesting to have an
exchange of views and useful to hear about some of the challenges people face when travelling by bus.
Frightening “Most of us consider buses as quite friendly places, but the representatives from Age UK told us that some people can find the whole experience frightening. “We were able to put our view across, too, and say that if a customer has a particular requirement – such as asking for the bus to be positioned closer to the kerb at the next stop – they should let the driver know this.” BusTalk l April 2011
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