Campaign to promote, protect and improve bus services in Herefordshire

Meeting in Shirehall, Hereford, 11 – 12noon, on 18th April, 2012:

• ‘If the pot ain’t broke…’

The meeting decided to continue as a loose-limbed, informal campaigning group since it seems to be working well and enables available time to be spent campaigning rather than getting bogged down in protocol and red tape. We will revisit this arrangement regularly to check it’s fit for our purpose as we grow. Each person will chip in and do what they can in their neck of the woods. We aim to build up our network of Bus Champions with the aim of recruiting at least one person willing to support each bus route.

We will meet once a month, probably in the library of Shirehall, Hereford, for the time being, as it’s central and easily accessible by bus from most places in Herefordshire.
Small interest groups will meet to pursue particular concerns; the first two such groups being disability access and dogs on buses.

Suggestions for making our mark and promoting public discussion included contacting Civic Societies, taking a stall at public events (Castle Green? Widemarsh Common? Market town events?) and a presence on local radio – check out Free Radio. BBC H&W and Radio Sunshine have so far served us well.
Leominster is forming a bus group; might small satellite groups be established in each town to make it easier to meet regularly, and which then feed back anything relevant by email to WLOB, with a big meeting every quarter perhaps when we all get together? I think we’re agreed that our focus is on saving and improving our buses, spending just enough time meeting & talking to feel supported, informed & encouraged by each other.

• Threatened withdrawal of travel subsidies for students over 16 years of age.
Currently, students aged 16+ and who live outside a 3-mile limit from their place of study purchase a subsidized bus pass costing £168 per term. Herefordshire Council has just announced its possible withdrawal. The Schools’ Transport department said today that this is unlikely to come into effect before September. However, they did not know when a decision will be reached. The threat of even higher travel costs combined with the recent loss of their allowance would seem to offer a golden opportunity to young people to become engaged in campaigning for the bus transport they need. The BBC Hereford and Worcester broadcast a response from WE LOVE OUR BUS yesterday during a debate of this issue. The Youth Council and a number of colleges will be contacted with an invitation for students to join WLOB and attend our next meeting.

• Leisure and Pleasure using Buses
6 very attractive free coloured leaflets are available on-line or from Tourist Information Centres and Libraries. Each Bus-Walk offers an excellent day’s outing and would seem to be one of the easier ways to introduce friends, family and neighbours who are not in the habit of using buses to give them a go. Ultimately, our strongest suit to save buses is to fill them with passengers to create viable routes needing no subsidies. This is a good place to start, so resolve to give at least one person a jolly day out this Summer! Maybe they’ll take someone else, maybe it’ll go viral. Ever hopeful.

Some felt that allowing dogs on buses would result in many more passengers. It was reported that Herefordshire is the only county in the country to ban pet dogs on buses. (Guide dogs are allowed on all services.) There was some concern expressed that we should concentrate on saving buses first and not get distracted by single issue campaigning. Solution: a group of dog owners who feel strongly about this will meet to tackle this aspect of access to bus services.

• ‘A louder voice and a place at the table to be heard…’
We need a forum to express the strength of feeling about travel issues and seek solutions. A primary aim is to forge stronger collaborative links with the Bus Operators and Herefordshire Council and be better represented by attending their monthly meetings or by arranging another regular meeting between the bus campaign, HC and the bus companies. Simply put, we wish to be taken seriously. WLOB can act as a useful go-between, delivering reliable, up-to-date, countywide feedback from bus passengers to our elected decision-makers to better inform their negotiations, and hopefully, to resolve some of the numerous detailed anomalies (Stretton Sugwas?) which only regular bus users know about and which could result in greater integration between bus routes, and between bus and train services. Such tweakings would create ‘smoother’ journeys and encourage more people to travel on buses. The meeting agreed that greater transparency and more open dissemination of information is essential and a reasonable expectation.

Other issues to be raised with HC and Bus Operators include:
• the provision of a well-designed modern Bus Station in Hereford (possibly behind the Odeon Cinema) with electronic bus information, comfortable waiting rooms and refreshments on a par with Railway Stations;
• looking closely at timetables to link services run by different companies and requesting greater co-operation between them, especially the provision of through buses (to include National Express) and integrated bus tickets to enable a ticket to be used on any bus along a route irrespective of the operator;
• resolving safety concerns, such as providing a safe way to use the bus to visit the popular visitor attraction of Queenswood on the Hereford-Leominster route by arranging for the bus to pull off the road to pick up and drop off passengers;
• bus services (evenings where necessary) to fit in with events at cultural venues such as The Courtyard in Hereford and The Assembly Rooms in Ludlow (especially from Leominster for 2pm events) so that bus users are not excluded;
• evening buses, in particular late evening buses on Friday and Saturday evenings especially a late bus to serve our young people (flat fee of £1 per journey to achieve economic viability) to all our market towns.
The HC Cabinet Member for Transport, Cllr. Blackshaw, will be invited to attend a WLOB meeting so we may discuss our concerns, urge a closer working relationship and explore how that might be achieved.

• Re Community Transport
The meeting agreed that Community Transport (CT) and public bus services both had a part to play but urged improved integration between existing bus services and the CT schemes. For example, shorter CT journeys could take someone to and from a bus stop rather than operating separately and going the whole way, which must be a waste of fuel and volunteer time. There was a suggestion that CT vehicles might stop to pick up passengers at bus stops along their journey to make best use of the trip, although this may pose complications with insurance and security. Again, organisations working more closely together would seem to be the answer.

• Improving mobility for the disabled.
WLOB is keen to work towards improving access to bus services. Standards vary widely across Herefordshire, partly due to having so very many Bus Operators, 27 at last count.
• Date of Next Meeting
Saturday, 26th May, 11am -12noon with the option to continue for a further hour.
This is to offer the chance of those working on weekdays to attend. If this proves unpopular we will think again. The library in the Shirehall, Hereford has been booked and awaits confirmation once people have replied.