We're always keen to hear what you think of us. Over the summer, we commissioned a no-holds barred survey of red arrow customers from across the whole route. The respondents were very carefully sampled from people travelling at all times of day - including commuters, shoppers, leisure travellers, fare paying customers and pass holders - and this is what you told us:
> 68% said "I would rather be on red arrow than a bus" – so we know we need to make sure we turn up with a coach for you every time. If we don’t, we aim to provide an air-conditioned, leather seated bus, with free on board WiFi. Any time we use a bus, you will receive a free half price voucher for a future journey.
> 45% said "it would take a lot to persuade me to leave red arrow". Thank you, that kind of loyalty means a lot to us, and we now just need to work hard on the remaining people!
> 1/3 said that they would travel less if we stopped running coaches – so we have no plans to stop running coaches on red arrow.
> Over 1/3 believed red arrow was cheaper than the car – that’s a good sign of value for money, but we can always do more to ensure we carry on offering better value for money than the car.
> 95% had no problem with using steps to get on & off. This result showed that the vast majority of you are happy with the access to our coaches.
> 45% said they could use another bus but won’t. This included neighbouring trentbarton routes and those of our competitors, proof that nearly half of you see red arrow as a cut above the normal bus route.
> 3 in 4 couldn’t think of anything not to like on red arrow. Those that could said price (just 8%) or timekeeping (6%). Again, this is a positive result – but we’ll never give up on improving the things that niggle you!
> 81% said that red arrow usually keeps good time. We know punctuality is the number one demand of the customer – but it’s the one thing that can remain out of our control. We’ll never stop trying our best to fight through the traffic to arrive and get you there on time.
> 86% said that the coaches are well looked after. Thanks – our cleaning regime is one the of most rigourous around, but we’ll continue to try harder all the time.
> 90% like the facility of having free WiFi – even though much fewer used it, it’s great to see a huge number of you appreciate it.
> 83% liked the layout of the coaches . It’s often difficult to get the balance right between getting adequate number of seats, ample knee room and space for tables – but this seems to show we’ve done a good job.
> 80% noticed the new competitor between Derby and Nottingham, ‘Citylink’ (of that, 11% tried it – but then didn’t like it) – we appreciate you have a choice and we thank you for sticking with us.
> 93% said that red arrow is a trusted brand. We work hard, as do all of the team in red arrow, to encourage you to believe and trust in what we do. Thank you!
We'll use the contents of the research to help us in our future planning, so thank you if you took part, and thank you for the overall positive results - and the grumbles too; they encourage us to work hard and ensure that we give you what you want from red arrow. If you’ve got anything further to add, we’d love to know – contact us here.
