Lee
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« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2013, 17:26:01 » |
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I have some personal experience of this myself, having relocated with my family over the last year. Although personal and other factors related to my transport activities (both now largely resolved) did have a big impact on our choice of destinations, public transport availability and infrastructure did also play a part.
Originally, we were set on moving to Melksham, and may well have done so had my wife been able to work in the town. However, in the current climate, the security of being able to transfer within her existing company to Bath was too important to turn down. Also, my son had been accepted onto a college course that was perfect for him in Bath.
This meant we had a number of factors to consider public transport-wise (none of us drives) if a move to Melksham was still to be a runner, as opposed to the other option of moving to the Bath area itself.
Both my wife and son would have needed the flexibility to get into and out of Bath at differing times due to them having varying shifts, course times and other commitments. This effectively ruled out the train as an option, with its very limited service and journey opportunities.
In order to carry out my transport-related activities, I also would have needed a fair degree of flexibility to get in and out of Melksham to and from various destinations. Crucially, train-wise I need the ability to use a rail rover such as Freedom of Severn & Solent or South West, for which the current service does not allow me to use Melksham station as a start point during the week.
This leaves the bus service, which would be just about ok for my son's college and social activities, the only real issue being the early (compared to the rest of the week) last bus back from Bath on Sundays.
As far as I go, the bus service used to be just about practical to use to get back to Melksham after a day travelling around the network. However, the cutbacks to the 234 evening service have made travelling back from Chippenham railway station less easy, and the withdrawal of late evening buses on the 272 Bath-Melksham-Devizes Sunday service haven't exactly been helpful either. I did discuss this issue with Wiltshire Council, whose funding decisions influenced the cuts, but their view was that they prioritise keeping daytime services running over keeping evening/Sunday journeys, and they felt it was the right balance to strike. Obviously though, it didn^t help tip the balance in Melksham^s favour regarding my decision.
Finally, my wife would sometimes need the ability to get into Bath before 7am on weekdays, and (using 28 July timetables) the first bus to arrive into Bath from Melksham does so at 0740. Comparing this with other selected nearby Wiltshire towns, a bus from Trowbridge & Bradford-on-Avon will get you in at 0655, whilst one from Corsham & Box will get you in at 0649.
As it was, we decided to move to a place within the Bath bus zones, with pretty good services into the city, and thus beyond through connections, throughout the day and evening during the week and at weekends. I am also within relatively easy reach of the TransWilts corridor as well.
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