Letter: Bus service is vital and deserves subsidy
Thursday 31st March 2011, 6:00AM BST.
Letter: Reference the 435 bus service. I understand that the county council is considering changing this service from hourly to two-hourly.
This service runs between the two largest towns in the county – Shrewsbury and Ludlow – passing through Church Stretton and Craven Arms.
It is important to realise that this is often the only means that many non-motorists have of getting to or between the towns and is particularly vital for people needing to visit the hospital.
The thought of having to travel 20, 30 or even 40 miles then perhaps getting there 90 minutes early for an appointment then having to wait up to two hours for the journey home, would put some people off having the treatment they need.
Maybe if our councillors – instead of getting in their cars and booking mileage – used this service, they would understand the value of it.
I am sure council taxpayers would rather subsidise this bus service than pay for the four very expensive posts the council is creating.
George Jones
Church Stretton
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The rule of supply and demand applies. If more non-drivers got sick then the bus would be full and then there would be more buses laid on if anyone is going to make a profit. Come on non-drivers, you’ve got to throw your weight behind this – start getting seriously ill more often.
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There is an hourly train service between Ludlow and Shrewsbury, which also calls at Craven Arms and Church Stretton.
And no, Ludlow is not the county’s second largest town. Even if excluding Telford & Wrekin (which is fair enough as we’re talking about a decision by Shropshire Council) the towns of Oswestry and Bridgnorth are larger than Ludlow. And I would hazard a guess that Whitchurch and Market Drayton are of similar size to Ludlow.
I have to say though that the 435 service, provided by Minsterley Motors, is one of the county’s better rural bus services. But – considering the train service that also runs in parallel – I think it could be reduced to two-hourly. The only places affected will be the very small communities that don’t have a railway station on the route! But why should we all subsidise the rural living of a few hundred people who choose to live in such places?
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The people behind these decisions have NO IDEA how much this route is needed. Two hourly is a joke. Why not put on a smaller bus? Couldnt they Save money that way?
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Yes it is stupid becuse there is 3 buses for 435 ludlow to shrewsbury services wich is every hour and that is good if we have it every 2 hours it will make things hard for people to get places on time i am not happy about this i keep on emailing the council and a wont do nothing but a told me something will happen sometime in APRIL and i think its stupid if anyone wont to reply to me email me :harryblakewaywoodlandsschool@googlemail.com
Many Thanks
Harry Blakeway
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Off peak buses at 2 hour intervals shouldn’t really affect most people so long as the service is reliable. You can book appointments to suit the bus times and there is always something to do whilst waiting to return home – have a coffee, relax, read a book in the sun. Lets face it, you get to keep the bus, many areas are loosing their buses altogether.
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This proposed cut is just one of many. The question is, as fuel and food prices go up, do drivers want to know there’s a bus there when they give up their car? Could these bus services be marketed better so more people come to use them? A Bus Users Group for Shropshire is being formed to work with operators and the Council to improve our services – Sat 9th April at 2pm at Roy Fletcher Centre in Shrewsbury (near the market).
PS Small buses cost about the same to run as large buses as the main cost is the driver’s wages.
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One thing Arriva could do is advertise their services in their own timetables!! I wanted to get from Shrewsbury to Bayston Hill last night, the Arriva timetable on the No 25 bus stand itself in Raven Meadows said the buses were hourly at 12 minutes past the hour. However, I luckily noticed another, smaller Shropshire Council timetable on the wall behind which said services were half hourly at 12 and 42 minutes, which proved to be the right one as the bus duly arrived at 21.42!!
The Council needs to do more to ensure that correct information on the services which they subsidise, and therefore we pay cuncil tax for, is made available to the public and not undermined by poor, inaccurate publicity by Arriva.
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The letter is about the 435 service from Ludlow. It’s run by Minsterley Motors and has nothing whatsoever to do with Arriva.
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Georges comments also apply to all rural services.Shropshire Council has failed to consider alternatives to massacring our bus services. Herefordshire is maintaining Sunday, evening and rural buses.So should Shropshire County. services.
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The whole point of public transport is to be a public service – not to make a profit. There’s too much of this ‘we’re not making a profit on this route, so we’re closing it or reducing the service’ going on. Here’s a thought for the bus companies: instead of cutting services and routes let’s make the buses, routes and times to suit the public so the public may use them.
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Regarding service 435 bus service from Ludlow to Shrewsbury. This service has only run hourly for the last couple of years, before that it was two hourly and 10 years ago less than that. Part of the problem is that once improvements have been made people dont want to loose them even if they NEVER use them.
Smaller buses could be used at off peak times but the cost of wages and maintenance would be almost the same.
Being realistic most people understand that cuts need to be made to save money….UNLESS it affects them.Its this attitude that needs to change.Lets have the cuts and accept the inconvenience.
Another problem if the poor job the council have done in explaining the impact of the cuts.For example service 715 from Bouldon to Ludlow is almost entirely served by Service 716 at almost identical times BUT few people know about it.People just see bus cuts and automatically say NO.
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Does anyone use the Shropshire Link in these places? It’s available two days a week if you phone Shropshire Council the day before. They say it’s a great success and don’t plan any alterations even though it costs over $400k a year in subsidy and each passenger is subsidised three times as much as other services they are proposing to cut! Seems like sacred cows are alive and well in the Shropshire countryside!
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Peter Jones, if ‘cuts need to be made to save money’, then how can the government afford to cut corporation tax by 2%, scrap the planned rise in Air Passenger Duty and bomb Libya?
Surely, if ‘cuts need to be made to save money’, then the government ccould not possibly justify cutting fuel duty by 1p?
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seriously, the government make a token gesture to cut fuel duty by 1p and you suddenly you think they’re loaded.
As for funding the removal of a tyranical dictator from oppressive power by cutting rural bus services in south Shropshire, I’m all ears Huw.
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My comments about cutting 2% off corporation tax and spending scarce resources on another military adventure aimed to show that there IS money available in the system when the government thinks it’s important.
The money lost to the Treasury by scrapping planned tax increases on flying and fuel could have paid for bus services in south Shropshire and in other isolated, rural communities in the UK.
Do you not think that rural public transport could be funded if the government thinks it is important enough, spencer?
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You could say the same about the government ( mostly the previous one ) for subsidising pointless windfarms, giving free money to people who don’t want to work and creating the general ” its someone elses fault ” society that we have become used to..
but this thread is definatly about the south shropshire bus service that not enough people are useing.
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George Jones, the letter-writer, says, ‘It is important to realise that this is often the only means that many non-motorists have of getting to or between the towns.’
According to the 2001 census 18% of households in Shropshire don’t own a car.
While I am aware that the situation is likely to be different in 2011, do you deny that quite significant numbers of people in our county need regular and reliable buses?
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a barrell of oil is now £90, with petrol likely to go to 1.50 a litre, public transport will become more essential. originally the 435 was the x34 and x35 midland red hourly double decker service between shrewsbury and hereford via ludlow. in the early 1960′s i travelled by bus from bristol to ludlow. bristol to gloucester, gloucester to ross on wye, ross on wye to hereford and hereford to ludlow, yes it took a long time but it was a third of the cost of the train.
the bus will again have its day but only when we are forced to use them. until then it is use it or lose it
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Well if people vote Tory then this is what you get…
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I am shocked and appalled at how terrible the bus services are in Shropshire. Last year I was travelling back from Telford to Shrewsbury, and the LAST bus to Shrewsbury left at 5:30.
If I didn’t now live and work in Shrewsbury, I would be forced to buy a car to travel to and from work. because the cost difference of buying a car, and using the trains is minimal.
I’m originally from near Chester, and I will say that the bus services there, run by Arriva and First, are outstanding compared to here.
The reason less people use buses is because they are not fesible to use.
Come on arriva, sort things out
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I was very impressed with the frequency of a service in Worcestershire I used today when I had a meeting there. The 144 runs from Birmingham through to Droitwich and Worcester every 10 or 12 minutes. It was well used. That’s what people want. Frequent, reliable service at a reasonable price in a clean bus with a courteous driver, and good information at the bus stop. Hopefully our new Bus Users Shropshire can help get the bus companies and Council to achieve that for us too!!
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