Commuter woes
TEES BOSSES may find it harder to reprimand tardy staff after a new report found poor public transport is responsible for Northerners getting in late to work more often than any other area of the UK.
According to Abbey Business Banking, late running or cancelled services and congested roads lost companies 5.2 days each month for every employee compared with just 3.7 in the South-east and 2.9 in Scotland, racking up a massive £6.8m in lost business revenue.
The survey of more than 500 workers showed almost one in five claim public transport problems cause them to be late 11-15 days each month.
Staff in the South-east were worst hit by transport delays, which caused them to be held up by 37 minutes on average compared with half an hour in the North.
About 1.4m people in the North said they were delayed recently, which based on the North’s estimated annual average salary of £19,000 equates to an around £6.8m of lost revenue for businesses.
But Tees bosses said they were surprised by the results. Johnathan Bulmer, managing director of haulage firm Bulmers Logistics in Grangetown, said the Tees area benefited from a good transport infrastructure.
“Although our rail network could be improved, we don’t suffer congestion in the same way as other parts of the country,” he said.
Russell Belton, managing director of Thornaby-based home seller Snail Homes, said the Tees transport system compared favourably with those in other parts of the UK, although park and ride schemes would allow public transport to navigate more easily through congested cities.
He said: “I used to live in Leeds and you should see what it’s like there in the morning rush-hour.
“York is a good example of a park and ride that has worked well. Darlington in particular could benefit from something similar.”
Recent revisions to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the North-east pushed a Tees Valley metro system higher up the public transport agenda.
Ross Smith, head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said the metro would be a welcome relief if it could be integrated with the existing public transport network and shown to benefit local businesses.
He added: “Like many other areas, the North-east has congestion points at peak times and the public needs to have full confidence that journeys are going to be reliable.”
