Commenting on the news that First are introducing an emergency timetable in Bath from 31 October 2021 Metro Mayor Dan Norris said:
“This problem has been brewing for some time. But as the industry warned about driver shortages this increasingly incompetent and inept government failed to plan. Then in a panic about empty supermarket shelves due to the HGV driver shortage, the government wrote to everyone with a licence including a lot of bus drivers. Surprise, surprise, some of them took up the offer! This government really enjoys shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic. Local bus companies are doing their best and I’d echo their call that if you would like to train as a driver to get in touch. But they have been hampered by Covid, Brexit, DVLA delays, the impact of furlough and a Tory flagship bus policy announced earlier this year that failed to even mention drivers.”