Marathon success for Reading

Reading Half Marathon organisers have praised Reading Buses for the planning and delivery of ‘another very successful year’ of shuttle bus services. For the first time the operator operated an additional third service from the new Mereoak park and ride site. It experienced a 50% increase in the number of customers carried, with over 12,000 people using the shuttle buses, up on last year’s 8,000.

Many of the company’s employees ran for good causes in the marathon, including those who raised money for Reading Buses’ charity of the year, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). Known runners in the marathon from the operator were: Marketing Manager, Jake Osman; Service Supervisor, Kevin Pinches; Duty Manager, Paul Bridges; Academy Trainer, Luke Ballard; Night Supervisor, Simon Flynn and drivers Phil Blackburn, Graham Simmons and Darren Batten.

Reading Buses Operations Manager, Dan Bassett, said, ‘It was a textbook operation, from the scheduling through to supervising and driving, a job well done on all fronts. We had three different shuttle routes which we “rationalised” this year to give the runners and spectators an easier time of finding the right bus for them. Our M1 service replicated the normal shuttle route during the football and rugby events at the Madejski and had a much clearer destination on the front – including changing the blinds at the Stadium to say that they were going back into town rather than the standard “Marathon Shuttle” from previous years. Our M2 and M3 services both operated as park and ride shuttles with clear signs as to which car park they were going. We had great feedback on the day and subsequently from customers who said how easy it was to get back to their vehicles.’

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