Go without car for a week and see how far you can get

Transport links are terrible now, where they exist at all.

For example, I can’t get a bus to Stafford from Market Drayton where I live, because there are no buses now.

If I catch a bus to Shrewsbury or Stoke and catch a train, I can’t get home again by bus from the station after 6pm.

There are no Sunday buses.

I can’t get to Whitchurch, Telford, Crewe, Newport, Wem or Oswestry at all, unless I go via Shrewsbury – which is nonsense and takes literally hours.

Because people can’t travel to these places, they can’t spend money there. Because they can’t spend money there, small town shops will close. Because small town shops will close, high streets will lose their character, their heart and their income.

I don’t mind paying for the journeys I make – what use is a bus pass if there are no buses? But for the young, who need to travel in order to work, socialise and study, lack of public transport is a disaster.

If you are in any doubt about this, here’s a challenge: park your car away from your house and only use public transport for a week.

That conference in London? Forget it. That hospital visit to see a sick friend? Take a day off. An evening at Theatre Severn? You won’t get home. Fancy a meal in Eccleshall? Sorry. Work experience in Birmingham? You’re joking.

Not everyone can drive, or own a car, but everyone can vote. Think about it.

M Williams, Market Drayton

Send us your letters for publication:

Email us at starmail@shropshirestar.co.uk or write to: Readers’ Letters, Shropshire Star, Ketley, Telford, TF1 5HU. Letters MUST include the writer’s name, address and telephone number. Letters will only be published anonymously in exceptional circumstances. The editor reserves the right to condense or amend letters.