Britain's bus route coverage now lowest in 28 years (Feb 2018)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Britain's bus network has shrunk to levels last seen in the late 1980s, BBC analysis has revealed.

Rising car use and cuts to public funding are being blamed for a loss of 134 million miles of coverage over the past decade alone. Some cut-off communities have taken to starting their own services, with Wales and north-west England hardest hit.

The government has encouraged councils and bus companies to work together to halt the decline.

One lobbying group fears the scale of the miles lost are a sign buses are on course to be cut to the same extent railways were in the 1960s.

Follow the link above for the BBC web site article. Also
Press Release from BBC is at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/bbc_buss_2018.pdf
Data tables at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/bbc_bus.tsv
Talk about this on BBC Wiltshire this morning at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wfph8 (yours truly at about 1hr 50mins)

[grahame]

Talk about this on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Wiltshire this morning at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wfph8 (yours truly at about 1hr 50mins)

Wiltshire Council is headed by a cabinet of "top ponchos" who are elected members - and the cabinet member for highways, transport and waste answered some questions on that show.  She described Wiltshire as a "huge rural area with a dispersed population", which rather took me aback. True, Wiltshire has huge swathes of open countryside like Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs, but 2 out of every 3 residents live in a market town of considerable size, and those towns are growing at a considerable rate, moving us to being an even more urban society.

But then it struck me.  ByBrook; Sherston; Downton and Ebble Valley; Roundway; Brinkworth; Nadder and East Knoyle; Urchfont and The Cannings; Ethandune.    These are the wards represented by our cabinet - and all the territories of the landed gentry, tweeds, Range Rovers, hunting shooting and fishing.  Not one from Chippenham or Trowbridge, Salisbury or Melksham - the four largest urban areas in the county.  None of the big towns is represented at the top table ...

[JayMac]

"Top ponchos"?

Really? Have the honchos not paid the heating bill for their meeting rooms and council chamber? 

[ChrisB]

Or even leaky roofs in councils :-)

[TaplowGreen]

"Top ponchos"?

Really? Have the honchos not paid the heating bill for their meeting rooms and council chamber? 

They're quite handy....I took one to Twickenham last week and it kept me dry on the way back to the pub.

[grahame]

"Top ponchos"?

Really? Have the honchos not paid the heating bill for their meeting rooms and council chamber? 

Or even leaky roofs in councils :-)

Many a true word spoken in jest - from The Wiltshire Times

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson told a Melksham Area Board meeting last week: “Given the cost to maintain the Christie Miller centre and the risks associated to ensure that it is fit for purpose for public use, it is possible that the centre will close ahead of the new provision being in place. Possible re-provision of some facilities is being looked at and more detail will be available in due course.”

The roof leaks - there's buckets all over the place and there's a fear that the lid will blow off.   Oh - and it's all stuffed full of asbestos

[SandTEngineer]

Deleted as already posted elsewhere .  Moderators: Please delete this topic.



Admin note: Topics now merged, to avoid also deleting subsequent relevant comments. CfN. 

[grahame]

Article too long to quote here (and I never seem to be able to copy the fancy graphics anyway )

Complete 28 page press release article was based on, and data tables - see thread (here)

Chris Todd, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "We are not talking a loss of that level, but we are heading that way.

"We live in a society that is quite prepared to completely abandon certain groups of people and leave them with no options of getting around."

Communities around the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) say the shrinking bus network is leaving people unable to reach basic services such as shops and GP surgeries.

Interestingly, here (in Wiltshire) the stated aim for our local council is to try to protect the vulnerable groups - and this results in a thinning out or removal of services for those who are not currently vulnerable.  Supported services outside the pensioner-to-shops-or-medical are most likely to be removed - and (ironically) that can turn people who aren't currently vulnerable into vulnerable ones - thinking especially of people who can no longer get to and from work ... and become unemployed.  It's very shortsighted - decisions often seeming to be based on costs and savings this year in a system that requires medium and long term planning and working between all parties.

[broadgage]

I have a theory that the decline in bus services is largely due to creeping "elfansafety" and political correctness.

Within living memory, running a rural bus service was a relatively simple and low technology affair, well within the capabilities of either the local authority or a local businessman.
These days it is a hugely complex affair, requiring a well paid manager simply to deal with form filling and compliance issues.

Ever growing provision is needed for those with special needs, which whilst commendable in helping the disadvantaged to participate in their community, adds to cost and complexity.

Bus travel around here has subjectively got worse. Growing traffic means slower and less reliable journeys, arguments involving multiple over sized baby carriages cause more delay, add to the mixture a few disruptive "special needs" kids who scream or shout for the entire journey and it is less attractive than in the past.

The 28 bus between Minehead and Taunton is unusable by most local residents on Butlins days since each vehicle will be full from the beginning of the route, with no question of anyone being able to board en route.

And of course strangers or visitors can not readily use the buses because many of the bus stops are not marked.

[JayMac]

So what you want is a bus YOU can use at the expense of the disadvantaged in society.

"Special needs" kids who scream and shout (a really crass statement) do so because of their disability. Keep them off the buses eh?

We have legislation for inclusivity for a reason. To give the less able the same chances as the rest of us.

[broadgage]

You make good points regarding the disadvantaged in society, but unfortunately the numbers of special needs passengers, many of whom occupy multiple seats, are leaving less and less room for ordinary fare payers.
Seating capacity has already been reduced by adding wheelchair provision and baby buggy space.

Some cynics might also suspect that in some cases "special needs" is a politically correct term for what used to be called badly behaved.

[ellendune]

You make good points regarding the disadvantaged in society, but unfortunately the numbers of special needs passengers, many of whom occupy multiple seats, are leaving less and less room for ordinary fare payers.
Seating capacity has already been reduced by adding wheelchair provision and baby buggy space.

Some cynics might also suspect that in some cases "special needs" is a politically correct term for what used to be called badly behaved.

And..?  What is wrong with them occupying those seats?

[LiskeardRich]

Bus coverage comes down to the willingness of the local authority to be pro active and work with operators to make an area attractive.
A senior figure at First bus reportedly said recently they are only investing where council partners also put in the effort. Cornwall and Bristol are key examples, Cornwall the biggest story, where we hadn’t seen a modern fleet of buses since the VRs. Now we have first Kernow operating 30 new deckers in late 2016, with another 21 double deckers and 20 single deckers due in the next 3 months (relayed to me by a driver friend, from a staff notice board a couple of weeks back).
Cornwall council have supported and invested in all of their partner operators getting modern contactless ticket machines, even the smallest independents (Aline torpoint, hopleys) now have contactless payment facility in place. Compare that to across the Tamar and stagecoach have nothing in place for non cash payments!
Go ahead (Plymouth Citybus) clearly want a slice of the pie and are gradually creeping west, and now have outstations in Par and Bodmin.
Credit in Cornwall goes Bert Biscoe is Cornwall council officer for transport, he campaigned tirelessly for better transport for all. It is well known he doesn’t drive so probably has great empathy to the bus and rail network daily.

[IndustryInsider]

Some cynics might also suspect that in some cases "special needs" is a politically correct term for what used to be called badly behaved.

I guess as a society we’ve largely moved on and are more sympathetic to those with learning disabilities or other mental/physical issues than might have been shrugged off in the “they’re just badly behaved” era.

Anyway, I wouldn’t have thought buses would have been of any interest to you with their lack of a buffet or Pullman, inadequate luggage space, lack of toilets and annoying tendency to be fitted with bus style seats...

[broadgage]

Whilst I prefer trains to buses, especially if a restaurant be available, I do have to use the bus to get to Taunton station, if not willing to pay about £50 for a taxi.
Also for local shopping or leisure travel, though I prefer the West Somerset Railway services to buses, when possible.