“I don’t have change for you.”
A typically cheery welcome from a First bus driver on the number 9 this morning as I handed her a five pound note to pay for a single to Temple Meads.
Except this was no ordinary five pound note but five Bristol Pounds on the first day that First Bus accepted the city’s own form of money.
“Sit down,” the driver ordered me, the note featuring St Paul’s Carnival and a graffiti-ing monkey remaiming unspent in my pocket.
At least she recognised the note. I was half-expecting an early morning stand-off, the 6.06 held up by my protestations as I explained that First are believed to be the first bus company in the UK to join a local currency scheme.
I hadn’t spent a Bristol Pound since its first day of trading almost a year ago.
And as I got to Temple Meads by bus at 6.30am this morning, my Bristol Pounds remained unspent in my pocket.
Free bus rides for all with the Bristol Pound!
Or perhaps First should provide their drivers with some change when they start their shift. The company may be trailblazers in joining a local currency, but they still seem unable to run a bus service.
I’m 51 years old. I’ve been catching buses on and off, sometimes more regularly than others, all my life. There’s been one constant on buses for all that time: A sign that reads something along the lines of ‘please tender the correct fare- no change given’. Why didn’t you just take a change ticket and sit down like everyone else?
‘I used my Bristol Pound on the bus!’ Would have made a much more positive and inspiring story than this grumpy bus-driver bashing one!
Here here!
I did ask for a change ticket, but for some reason the driver wouldn’t give me one and instead told me to sit down.
Because at 6.06am you’d expect a bus, and it’s grumpy driver, to be equipped with at least enough change to last through rush hour.
And given First Bus’ rates, the change from a fiver would only be about £2.
Why do they join the Bristol Pound scheme if then they don’t provide the driver with change? Cannot understand…
Luckily, you still have 5 Bristolian Pounds for your next (free) ride!
To the author of this piece, can you please contact me to let me know exactly where you boarded the bus and at what time (and in which direction it was going). I’d like to understand more about this issue from the driver. As a rule a drivr should always carry a float. Notwithstanding that though any float can be easily wiped out by just a few customers tendering high value notes, so offering the correct money is always the best bet. I would like to know why you weren’t offered a change ticket though if the driver didn’t have sufficient change – that would be the normal process. Can you email me at karen.baxter@firstgroup.com so I can understand more. Thanks.
Hi Karen,
I caught the 6.06am number 9 service from outside WHSmith’s in Clifton Village to Temple Meads. Please thank the driver profusely for my free ride.
Martin
What a shambles! First Bus and the Bristol Pound are both as embarrasing as each other.
You can rarely get change for normal money on a First bus, let alone change for a Bristol pound. Last time I got a bus they had no change for a tenner and the driver refused to let me on. Cheers Drive!