Public transport

[victor]

Our bus used to run every 30min mon -Fri
Now it has changed to every 40_min effectively removing 1 BUS from every 2 hour slot ,that makes 6 buses removed over the day

[JanB]

At least you get them. We have a bus stop, timetable but no buses

And the bus shelter now houses the post boxes, so I guess we'll never get a bus here

[TheOstrich]

At least you get them. We have a bus stop, timetable but no buses

They did at least have the decency to take the bus-stop timetables down when they cut the town bus service completely.
Residents are actively campaigning to get it reinstated, but local politics are involved, I'm afraid ....

[cromwell]

Completely, Os?
Wow.

[Kaz]

Makes me feel guilty for complaining about our service. It should be every ten minutes, but lately they've been cutting a few out.

[TheOstrich]

Completely, Os? Wow.

Yes. The South West Coaches X2 service historically ran between Shaftesbury Town Hall and Gillingham Station, then did a loop of Gillingham's "estates" (Wyke and Peacemarsh) before returning to the station and going back to Shaftesbury. This loop also incorporated the Doctors' Surgery in Peacemarsh and was a lifeline for the more elderly residents.

Then Persimmon got the contact to put up a brand new estate on the outskirts of Shaftesbury. Part of the planning consent involved, of course, the S106 money, which is what the developer has to pay towards "amenities" for permission to build an estate. In other words, a "legal bribe". Part of the "amenities" Persimmon had to provide was a bus service from their new estate to Shaftesbury town centre. So they paid South Western Coaches to provide the service for five (I think) years. Logistically, SW Coaches could not maintain the Gillingham loop on the X2 timetable and introduce a Shaftesbury loop at the other end of it (2 buses only in service on a tight schedule) without providing a third bus (uneconomic). The Gillingham loop bit was not a council-mandated route, so it could be withdrawn - just like that, as Tommy Cooper would say - in favour of the Shaftesbury loop where SW Coaches were raking in dosh from the S106 money.

So the Gillingham folk (mainly elderly as these are 1980's retirement estates) lost their hourly bus, whilst Shaftesbury gained theirs (brand new estate, working families etc, bus apparently carrying nothing but air).
A lot of unhappy bunnies in my neck of the woods. Go figure ....

Any rural bus route that is not a council-tendered route is fair game for chopping. As county councils have come under financial pressure, the bus service network across Dorset and Somerset has been decimated - and I mean decimated - since the 1990's when we last lived in the area. You guys in Wakey, Gloucester, Pompey, so on - be very grateful with what you've got!

[Kaz]

I am Ossie, after reading that! How awful for those who can't drive