
How we engage with passengers and service users
Nexus is a public body, funded by local and national taxpayers. We are accountable for how we perform and seek to engage with the public to improve the planning and delivery of the services we deliver.
Nexus is accountable to the North East Combined Authority (NECA) made up of elected councillors from five local authorities. We provide regular reports to the ITA on the delivery of policies it has set. These cover things like our budget, the performance of key projects and our progress towards meeting diversity and environmental objectives. The public can petition the ITA if it wants a particular issue raised, or speak to an ITA member for their area.
Nexus senior managers hold regular meetings with the Tyne and Wear Public Transport User Group (PTUG), which bus companies and train operators also attend. PTUG is an independent body which brings together different community and interest groups. While Nexus does not fund PTUG activity it provides other support, including carrying out research it asks for. You can also contact Passenger Focus, a national body representing public transport users, if you have any complaints you feel Nexus has not addressed appropriately.
We also try to speak to service users directly through a number of channels, including customer satisfaction surveys (held with 2,000 Metro passengers each year), customer panels, online forums and ‘Meet the Manager’ events held both at main stations and on social media. Our online Insight Panel also gives people the opportunity to put their opinions forward to help shape our future decisions. Find out how you can become a member of our Insight Panel here.
We have a small team of Community Relations Officers whose job it is to engage with groups right across our community, particularly those whose voice sometimes struggles to be heard. The team also stage events in the community and keep people informed when new services are planned, services are changing or engineering work on Metro is taking place. To get in touch with a Community Relations Officer directly please use our 'contact us' portal.
Communications is a two-way street and we like to listen to what people have to say because your suggestions will often make our business more efficient and our services better.