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False teeth and prosthetic leg amongst lost property left on Plymouth Citybus services in 2020

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Plymouth Citybus bus

In a bid to raise awareness and return more lost property, Plymouth Citybus have revealed some of the most surprising items left behind by passengers.

Header image source: Nick Rice. License: CC BY-ND 4.0, no changes made. 

Among the thousands of items left on bus services in 2020 were a prosthetic leg, a set of false teeth, a lateral flow COVID-19 test, a sex toy, a professional chef’s knife set and a dog!

The Plymouth Citybus lost property team recorded over 2,000 found items in 2020, down from the previous year due to the significant decrease in ridership during COVID-19. Plenty of items were safely returned to owners, including the dog after enjoying a brief stay at the lost property office. All unclaimed items are donated to local charities or disposed of safely and sustainably.

Lost property on public transport
Some of the most commonly lost items on the buses included: AirPods, travel cards, smartphones, glasses, bank cards and towards the end of the year, gloves, hats and Christmas presents!

Last year also saw a rise in medical items such as PPE, a single crutch and even a lateral flow COVID-19 test.

At the beginning of 2020, Plymouth Citybus became amongst the first bus operators in the UK to adopt new technology to better manage their lost property. With the innovative NotLost platform, customer experience staff at Plymouth Citybus can register items found on bus services in seconds by simply taking a photo. Passengers are able to fill out an online report if they have lost something whilst the software gets to work matching lost/found items automatically.

Here is the lost report form if you have lost something on a Plymouth Citybus service: https://www.plymouthbus.co.uk/contact-us/lost-property/

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James Church, Customer Experience Manager said: “Despite a decline in ridership this year, we naturally still saw huge amounts of lost belongings on our services.”

“Losing something whilst travelling can be distressing and inconvenient. We think it’s incredibly important to highlight some of the bizarre items left on our buses as it helps remind passengers that ‘all is not lost’ when it comes to getting items back. We have a reliable lost property operation in place and it is always worth enquiring using the lost report form on our website.”

Alex Horne, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder at NotLost said: “We’re pleased to have started a strong partnership with Plymouth Citybus this year, helping the team to deliver excellent passenger experience whilst also alleviating the stress of handling lost property for staff.”

Find out more 

Do you think your lost and found process would benefit from innovative new software? Transport operators, feel free to get in touch. We love to chat! 

Give us a call on +44(0)20 8037 3970 or drop us an email . Plus, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date with all things lost property!