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Yet another Bus Recovery Grant cliff-edge. What would you do?

Yet another Bus Recovery Grant cliff-edge. What would you do?

RE: Yet another Bus Recovery Grant cliff-edge. What would you do?
(28 Feb 2023, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote It really is a result of the toxic combination of apathetic authorities and operator. This is surely the end for deregulation? When an entire county can’t sustain a bus service any longer.

There are of course extremely affluent pockets of Cheshire, but towns like Winsford & Northwich are not wealthy areas. Stoke on Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme are akin to Sunderland and Washington in their populations, ex-industrial base and satellite town set up. Difference is the combined PVR of all operations in the Potteries is less than just Deptford, without even considering Wheatsheaf. 

The Cheshire debacle has highlighted the ignorance of many people in their understanding of bus operators. A change.org to prevent the closures and umpteen comments online for the ‘contract’ to be awarded to someone else. Clearly people don’t realise they have as little power in this as their local Pizza Hut closing down. If Joe Public is already under the impression that buses are franchised, why not pursue the system anyway?

One thing that can't be ignored is the relatively decent railway service around there which won't help matters.

It's an awkward area as unless you plow millions and millions of pounds of tax payers money in the area it'll never really work and then again you'll have one bus going to the wrong place on an hourly frequency which isn't useful and people still won't use them and it'll carry around fresh air.

We need a new solution for places like it, what it is I'm not sure. DRT on paper is the answer but so far they haven't worked because they're complicated and confusing to use for Joe Public. It's not unique, North Yorkshire is just as bad and most other rural areas.

RE: Yet another Bus Recovery Grant cliff-edge. What would you do?