On the buses

A message from Wiltshire transport campaigner Graham Ellis:

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Under Wiltshire Council's Review of Passenger Transport, their "Public consultation on the future provision of subsidised bus services in Wiltshire" is now under way. Some 98 different services or service groups are being considered for (worst case scenario) complete withdrawal of subsidy funding, effecting just over 2.5 million journeys per year.

In addition to 'cut' options - a sort of Beeching Axe of buses - there is now the possibility of moving to a bus franchising scheme. This integrated network approach allows the removal of duplicated services, the fanning out of other services to cover residential areas on journeys between towns and different village groups, and also opens up new funding and marketing growth opportunities.

Please take a look at the web site - http://option247.uk - to see details of all seven options.

I would encourage you to support option 24/7 - and to ask others to support it too. It's the only option that doesn't lead to a continuing downward spiral in which any remaining buses lose connectional traffic of their place in a complete journey, and become uneconomic themselves and subject to being withdrawn at a later date. Rather, option 24/7 takes the opportunity we now have - with support from our MP and from the Department for Transport (links on web site) to put into place a system in Wiltshire that provides a more financially efficient, better for the customer service that offers new users a real alternative to their car, and offers bus operators a stability to develop that they don't have under the current system.

Please ask others to take a look at the web site and the options too, and respond. Please copy this onwards as well, and encourage discussion and review.

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This isn't about saving bus services. It's about people's lives and quality of life.

Mrs A can no longer drive. She relies on the bus to get her from her home into the town centre where she meets friends and does her shopping.

Mr B works in X. He's unable to drive for medical reasons, and commutes by bus every day; sometimes he has to work late and catch a bus back in the early evening.

The C family send their daughter to school in X - a journey of about 6 miles. It's not their nearest school, but it's the right one for her and she gets there by bus.

Miss D and her college friends want to meet up for a 'social' at the weekend or an evening; due to high insurance premiums none of them can afford a car, and in any case they want to be able to enjoy the eveing without having to be awake (and sober) enough to drive safely home afterwards.

Mr E will be retiring in about 7 years - he's getting on a bit shaky on his legs and can no longer walk to the local railway station without it leaving him so tired he can't do his job properly

Mrs F no longer has a bus to get to her doctors, so now she requires home visits

Ms G had planned to go to college this September with a view to getting qualified and back into employment, but she's had to put these plans on hold because the bus that would get her home at the end of the college day doesn't run any more

Mr H doesn't use the bus at all. But he can't get a car parking space in town / at work any longer as all the spaces are filled with people who used to use public transport, so the gets very frustrated and parks in residential streets to the annoyance of those residents

Ms I is a health service / social services administrator, and she notices a severe strain on her 'customer transport' budget because she's now spending a lot of money (ad organisation time) or arranging and paying for customers who used to use the bus.

It isn't about the bus service - it's about the people using the bus!

Graham Ellis - Supporting Option 24/7 for a positive bus future in Wiltshire

Web: http://option247.uk

Facebook group: option247

Twitter: @option247