Here is an extract of a letter we sent to Councillor Turner of BaNES council a month ago for those that may be interested.
.......As the one of largest independent operators of buses in Bath we despair at the attitude of Bath and North East Somerset Council towards buses and coaches.
Traffic in Bath is notoriously unpredictable and therefore we build contingencies into our timetables to try and allow delayed buses to get back on time and comply with our obligations to the lic...encing authorities. The problem arises when a bus does arrive on time is that the driver then has nowhere to go. We are allowed to stand on bus stops for up to ten minutes as long as the driver remains on the bus. When drivers either leave the bus for a ‘call of nature’ or drive around the corner to move out of the way, we are hounded by traffic wardens who regularly ‘ticket’ our buses.
.......As the one of largest independent operators of buses in Bath we despair at the attitude of Bath and North East Somerset Council towards buses and coaches.
Traffic in Bath is notoriously unpredictable and therefore we build contingencies into our timetables to try and allow delayed buses to get back on time and comply with our obligations to the lic...encing authorities. The problem arises when a bus does arrive on time is that the driver then has nowhere to go. We are allowed to stand on bus stops for up to ten minutes as long as the driver remains on the bus. When drivers either leave the bus for a ‘call of nature’ or drive around the corner to move out of the way, we are hounded by traffic wardens who regularly ‘ticket’ our buses.
What are we supposed to do ?
Bath is a World Heritage City. Regardless of the council’s political tendencies, there should be a realisation that buses and coaches are better than cars when it comes to reducing traffic, congestion and pollution. We often hear that a bus can replace 50 cars and this is a good thing. We have never heard a complaint that a coach is using up three car parking spaces and this is a bad thing.
Yesterday, the 19th September Bath once again suffered gridlock in the afternoon. Some buses were up to 35 minutes late. Perhaps the bus companies should close for a day to prove to Bath how much it needs public transport ?
We; The bus companies, the politicians, the local council, the residents should all work together to make Bath open to efficient public transport. Otherwise we may as well just have to accept that the battle is lost and Bath is just another victim of the motor car......
Here we are a month later and nothing has changed
Bath is a World Heritage City. Regardless of the council’s political tendencies, there should be a realisation that buses and coaches are better than cars when it comes to reducing traffic, congestion and pollution. We often hear that a bus can replace 50 cars and this is a good thing. We have never heard a complaint that a coach is using up three car parking spaces and this is a bad thing.
Yesterday, the 19th September Bath once again suffered gridlock in the afternoon. Some buses were up to 35 minutes late. Perhaps the bus companies should close for a day to prove to Bath how much it needs public transport ?
We; The bus companies, the politicians, the local council, the residents should all work together to make Bath open to efficient public transport. Otherwise we may as well just have to accept that the battle is lost and Bath is just another victim of the motor car......
Here we are a month later and nothing has changed
No comments:
Post a Comment