News 2004

Recruitment Day March 20th
Nottingham City Transport are hosting a driver recruitment day at their Trent Bridge Depot on Bunbury Street on Saturday 20 th March from 10am until 4pm, this is an informal way for people to learn about what's involved, and what life as a bus driver is really like and sign up to train as a bus driver for NCT.

Sher Zaman who started as an NCT driver and is now a Training Instructor and has been with NCT for 28 years states “anyone who has always fancied driving a bus for a living should go along to Trent Bridge to find out more about a career with NCT”

He continued “It's a great job meeting the general public, no two days are the same, NCT are a good company to work for, with a starting salary rate when trained from 3 rd April 2004 of £7.00 per hour, plus a £1 premium rate after 9pm and for Sunday working.”

NCT are looking for more drivers to drive all types of bus starting on the smallest midi bus with opportunities to progress to the largest double deckers and bendy buses.

“We are looking for people who are pleasant and helpful, capable of working in a busy environment and able to display a strong customer focus,” said Mick Leafe

NCT‘s Head of Human Resources, “ we provide a high quality professional training programme, free uniform, a good final salary pension scheme and free travel and would like to talk to anyone who has a full driving licence and has at least six months driving experience”.

Anyone unable to attend on Saturday but who is interested in becoming a bus driver should ring 0115  9438927 for further details.

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The new pay deal which will be implemented on 3rd April 2004 can be summarised as follows:

• A 30p increase on all basic hourly rates, meaning a fully trained midi bus driver now starts at £7.00p per hour with opportunity to progress to big buses at £8.27 per hour with service.

• In addition, there is a premium payment of an additional £1 per hour for duties after 9pm and for Sunday working.

• This offer equates to an average 4.5% increase in drivers wage rates

This pay award has been accepted on the basis that the pay structure is simplified over the next 2 years by the removal of 3 progressive pay grades, leading to more rapid promotion for drivers.

Mark Fowles, Managing Director of Nottingham City Transport said; “I am delighted that for the first time in many years we have been able to settle our drivers pay review in advance of the settlement date, it shows what can be achieved when the workforce and management work towards a common goal.

He continued “This demonstrates our commitment to improve the relative pay position for Nottingham City Transport drivers in the wider workforce, making working for Nottingham City Transport more attractive to prospective employees”

NCT have been successfully recruiting drivers since the last extraordinary pay award in September 2003, which resulted in their drivers becoming some of the best paid in the industry outside of London.  The enhanced rates have attracted many new recruits from the industry and elsewhere and it is hoped that this further increase in starter rates will continue to attract more drivers, to allow NCT to fulfil its plans for expansion in the future.

Nottingham City Transport are hosting another driver recruitment day at their Trent Bridge Depot on Bunbury Street on Saturday 20 th March from 10am until 4pm, this is an informal way for people to learn about what's involved, and what life as a bus driver is really like and sign up to train as a bus driver for NCT.

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NCT launch new link bus services to tram in Bulwell
In partnership with NET and the City Council, NCT have revised services in Bulwell to compliment the tram operation to provide an integrated quicker, and more frequent public transport network into the city.

All NCT services have been planned to feed and integrate with the NET tram timetable.

When NET commences operation on Tuesday 9 th March NCT will:

·          Operate feeder bus shuttle routes linking key residential areas with NET in Bulwell

·          Continue to operate services from Bulwell into the city

·          Sell new ticket options which are valid on both NCT and NET services

Seven new Scania Omni Town buses will operate the new link services delivering passengers to Bulwell bus station to interchange with the tram. These new buses are branded in NET colours with the distinctive link imagery.

Some NCT services will stop running or alter, while many others remain unchanged - please see the summary below for details.

Mark Fowles MD for NCT said “This is a milestone for Nottingham and demonstrates Nottingham City Council's commitment to integrated public transport. NCT have worked very closely with the council and NET to provide dovetailed bus services, we are sure that local residents will appreciate the reduced travel times and the modern state of the art public transport”.

NCT have also renamed the highly successful smart travel card  BusCard as “easyrider city” to co-inside with the tram launch, as it will be valid on both NET and NCT services, along with many other NCT tickets.

 Easyrider city provides unlimited travel across the entire NET line and the NCT city area from less than £1 per day, and represents exceptional value, providing a no hassle convenient way to travel around Nottingham using public transport.

All residents in the Bulwell area and along the tram route have received a Big Wheel folder through the post containing an explanation of the changes, bus, tram and train timetables, plus a City Council leaflet summarising the new public transport arrangements for the area.

In addition one of the new Link buses have been in Bulwell market place for 3 days last week with 2 NCT Customer Service Auditors meeting passengers and advising them about their new travel arrangements. The NCT travel centre has also been busy informing customers about the changes and issuing new timetables to ensure that all passengers are fully aware of the changes in advance.

NCT customer Service Auditors will also be available in Bulwell for the entire week commencing 8 th March to advise passengers of these new travel arrangements and help them interchange to the tram to complete their journey

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NCT launches easyrider city - the new name for buscard!
To coincide with the launch of the Tram and the new inter-ticketing arrangements between bus and tram, NCT are re-launching their BusCard smart travel pass as easyrider city. This attractive new travel card will be available from the NCT travel centre week commencing 8 th March 2004.

Easyrider is a pre-purchased travel card for use on consecutive days, offering NCT and NET passengers' exceptional savings on their daily travel (saving over £1.20 on a CityRider for unlimited travel during the day). It is ideal for the regular user or commuter.

NCT now operate the largest smartcard travel card system in the UK with over 70,000 passes in regular use.

There are many advantages for passengers when using easyrider as follows:

• Customers enjoy unlimited travel on NET and NCT buses within the city area from less than £1 per day*
• No need to have the correct change
• Speeds up passenger boarding allowing the bus to keep to time
• Easy to renew, via direct debit, internet, phone or at the NCT Travel Centre

*This does not include the £3 initial charge for the first card

NCT Managing Director Mark Fowles stated “The new easyrider city card represents excellent value for passengers, making it more convenient and easier to travel on public transport in Nottingham. We are sure that many more passengers will now use this facility now that it is valid for travel on both NCT and NET services

Easyrider is easy to use on the bus or the tram, simply show the card to the driver to allow the photograph to be checked, then hold the card to the reader and wait for a green light and beep before sitting down.

Easyrider is also really easy to buy and renew, for the initial issue of easyrider, customers are required to visit the NCT Travel Centre in the Market Square. Customers can then choose how long they would like their easyrider to be valid for, from just 7 days (for £10) to one whole years travel for £365. The Travel Centre staff will then take the customers photograph and issue the card immediately ready to use on both bus and tram.

Once the easyrider has been issued, there are many methods to renew easyrider passes, including direct debit which provides the cheapest option of payment (£30 per month), allowing passengers real choice and flexibility in their purchasing patterns.

NCT have plans to launch easyrider anytime – a non consecutive days travel card for passengers travelling less frequently, later in 2004 and have aspirations to increase smart card usage across the network  to 40% of all fares over the next 2 years.

Existing NCT BusCards are valid on both the NCT and now the NET networks as the easyrider city cards, passengers holding these cards do not need to take any action as a result of this re-launch and should continue to use their BusCard as normal .

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The service, commencing 4 th May 2004, will run every half hour from around 4 am to 11pm, seven days a week as a limited stopping service only, calling at the city centre (Friar Lane / Market Square),Midland Railway Station, Clifton (Fabis Drive), Pegasus Business Park, DHL and Nottingham East Midlands Airport.

A single fare will be £3.50 with a return at £6, plus a day return at £3.50 for workers and short term visitors, half price concessionary fares will also be available. There will be a group ticket for families etc £6 single and £10 return, and NCT Network scratch cards will also be valid on this service.

Passengers using an NCT bus or Tram into the city centre to catch the Airlink will also be able to purchase a single ticket for £4.50 which will cover the entire journey, passengers will be able to pay for this service in Euros or sterling.

Kevin Ward Garage Manager for Nottingham City Coaches stated

“We are delighted to have been awarded this tender, Nottingham City Coaches is a well established coach company, well used to driving tourists around and offering excellent customer care, as reflected when we were awarded the GTO Best Small Coach Operator Award in 2003. I am sure our passengers will be highly delighted with this important new service”

Nottingham Airlink buses will be brand new Scania Omni City buses with a distinct and unique image. The fast, luxurious, service will have ample luggage space, tourist information and DVDs welcoming visitors to the city shown on special screens.

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