The Transport Focus survey questioned 31,000 visitors of 119 motorway service stations up and down the country. Users rated their experience, scoring toilet cleanliness, value for money, electric vehicle charging, staff friendliness and their mood after leaving the services. 

Overall, motorway services across the board performed exceptionally well, with 93% of visitors reporting they were satisfied with their visit. 

At Rugby services, 100% of visitors were happy with their stop-off at the newest site on the motorway network.

Rugby was also rated as the service station visitors would recommend to friends and family as well as boasting the cleanest toilets – 99% agreed the toilets were neat, clean and well looked after. 

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “Our survey shows motorway service operators deliver good overall customer experience and facilities, but visitors don’t always feel they get value for money.

“Services continue to do a good job of their most important safety function – allowing drivers to rest and relax before getting back on the road.”

The key findings from the survey were as follows: 

• Staff at service stations are friendly and helpful – 9/10 visitors rated staff experience positively
• 88% of visitors were satisfied with the toilets. Extra and Roadchef service facilities had the highest ratings for toilets both at 93%
• Value for money continues to be the critical area for improvement – 37% of visitors didn’t think the food or drink on offer was good value for money
• Stopping at the services has a positive impact on drivers’ mood – almost one in three arrive saying they feel tired, stressed or frustrated, which fell to less than one in 10 after the visit
• HGV drivers were the least satisfied overall at 88%
• Users charging electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles rated the payment options at the services highly (91%) but gave lower ratings for value for money (68%) and for information available online (73%)

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