(22 Aug 2022, 10:55 am)Storx wrote imo they should start community transport groups where they engage with the pensioners and setup a selection of routes similar to Spirit Group used to be in Rothbury, bar they got no funding at all because Hexham get's most the funding in Northumberland and got forced to close down especially since they changed the X14 timetable so it was impossible to connect the services anymore.
In an ideal world, Northumberland County Council along with other councils in the country, would have a fleet of vehicles which are responsive to the community's needs. No need for private companies to profit off unprofitable routes, or for local residents to put their hands even deeper into their pockets for a charity or small operator to run routes that they already pay Northumberland County Council through Council Tax to provide.
The money to provide these services is there. And it's there in abundance. The council isn't sat there looking into their wallets for the last few pennies. It's up to the council and central government to find ways to provide more of the services that they are paid to provide, and to reduce costs through cutting out waste (ie profit).
Spirit Buses was too ambitious in the start, although it focussed on the core Rothbury-Alnwick service, and the loop of Coquetdale with about 40-50% of passengers making local journeys. The Elsdon journeys (population of ~250) were never going to work. The Wallington journeys were a daytrip via bumfuck nowhere (the amount of people who live on the route could be counted on your fingers). And there was 2 buses on a Sunday to Morpeth and back which always looked empty.