Cuts
in services can result in fewer passengers and this in turn can
lead to further cuts in services. At our bus user surgeries
we are told that when evening or Sunday services are withdrawn
passengers will use private cars or taxis or not take the journey
at all.
There is a lack of integration with
land use planning. Housing estates are built with no suitable
road or turning provision for buses and large out of town shopping
centres continue to be developed with no thought given to access by
anything other than the private car. Health centres are
consolidated in edge of town locations which can be accessed only
by taxi or private car.
The
bus was the traditional means to go shopping to the high street but
the advent of internet shopping coupled with out of town shopping
centres has resulted in less travel to shops. Town centres
are declining and this is also a factor.
The
development of employment centres on the edges of towns makes
travel for shift work increasingly difficult or impossible by
bus
Fewer
evening journeys have reduced passenger numbers because they might
be able to get to the cinema or bingo etc but often have no return
service after 7 pm so will travel in a private car or taxi, or not
go at all. This isolation can then impact on health and
wellbeing.
The
private car is seen as inexpensive because no-one factors in
depreciation, tyres, insurance, tax, etc. and free car parking is
an added attraction for out of town centres.
There
is probably a greater proportion of rural services in Wales than in
Scotland or England and thus a greater reliance on public money
through subsidies. It is therefore not surprising that services in
Wales have been hit hardest at a time of reducing public
expenditure.
Evening
and Sunday services are the first to be axed when funding dries up.
These services provide vital links for people who work late and for
people who rely on evening services for leisure purposes. The young
and the elderly are most affected. The result is more people are
dependent on cars.
Bus stations are not given the
status they should have. Cardiff has closed its bus station
without having a replacement open, Merthyr Tydfil bus station is
not the best passenger experience and Port Talbot and Bridgend bus
stations close in the evening. Swansea has a good bus station but
it is poorly placed for integration with rail services.
Provision
of information is crucial in promoting use of the bus and in some
areas the lack of availability of up to date printed information
probably has also had an impact on bus use.
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