Topic: Bus timetable

[Debs]

 I havent been well for the past week. So i havent been able to take My partner to work as usual. We have tried the buses. We were thinking we couldnt have been looking at them properly. Then i read this piece in the newspaper this morning. Its totally unacceptable. I thought the government were trying to encourage the public to use public transport.    He works at airsprung. And cannot bet there for 7.45 start using buses.  And this mornings trip was even a bigger laugh . He has to be there by 5.45 am to work... again no buses...    and my friends who have taken him this week dont need to start 2 hours earlier themselves. So he dips out again...or would have IF I HADNT CRAWLED out of bed and drive him to work and crawled bk in bed when i got home. Coming home in the evening he finishes at 4.30pm and still doesn't get through the door well after 6 for what is effectively a 15 min journey
Ive had to resort to asking my range of fb friends if they are going that way and able to help out
I would say this new system isnt working out for the people who use it. What is with the starting point at hawke ridge estate??? How bloody dangerous is that? No pavement to access that road at all. On dangerous dark UNLIT bends.  Having to walk 5 bus stops in order to catch a bus is ridiculous... If it wasnt for the fact i take him on a daily basic he wouldnt be able to Work because would be unable to access public transport. Those who have been through the job centre process will know that they wont accept no public transport as a reason for not taking a job.? He had been sent to the other side of frome to yoghurt dessert factory knowing he couldnt drive and  public transport couldnt get him there.

COME ON FIRST BUS GET YOUR ACT IN GEAR!! ITS NOT WORKING FOR THOSE WHO NEED TO USE IT.

[Debs]

Sorry   cant seem to upload the photo of the piece in the whn about the bus timetable

[baldy]

My understanding is that First Bus don't make any money on this route and regard it as unviable.


It would not be surprising if they just withdraw all the buses from the route sooner or later.

[Old Codger]

I'm not surprised the service is not viable starting and finishing in the middle of no where, surely anyone with a slight bit of intelligence would let the service start or finish at Westbury, I reckon its the same person that messed this up thats wrote the new train time table.

[Debs]

So how are people supposed to get around if they dont have a car? Not everyone is able or whats to drive.
Are we just supposed to take it lying down and accept shoddy service?    What about those who work or go to college in trowbridge , bath or salisbury
So all the houses that are up for sale that says it has good public transport links are lying i take it?    Ive yet to investigate the train time tables

[Debs]

I'm not surprised the service is not viable starting and finishing in the middle of no where, surely anyone with a slight bit of intelligence would let the service start or at Westbury, I reckon its the same person that messed this up thats wrote the new train time table.

Exactly  !!!      Its totally hideous . What if it was a young girl going to her first job ? WalKing along that road to catch the bus at  HAWK RIDGE of all stupid places to catch a bus
  All our houses are sold using tag lines of good rail and bus links which is a big fat lie

[Michael]

The issue is being taken up by the Westbury Town Council it was raised by Cllr Ward Jones and is being dealt with in the first instance by asking for an immediate meeting with First Bus.

[Old Codger]

The service is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, and now even all the youngsters that use the college have to get off at Bradley Road and walk up College Road, and making some of them late for lessons. I note on the timetable there are about 3 buses that start from the trading estate before 8am, what a waste of time, someone said about driving up and catching the bus there, you had just as well go the extra couple of miles to Trowbridge.

[Debs]

on the timetable there are about 3 buses that start from the trading estate before 8am, what a waste of time, someone said about driving up and catching the bus there, you had just as well go the extra couple of miles to Trowbridge.

EXACTLY OC     if i have to get out of bed to drive ken up to hawk ridge estate i might as well just carry on a d drive him to airsprung myself    totally ridiculous. 

The issue is being taken up by the Westbury Town Council it was raised by Cllr Ward Jones and is being dealt with in the first instance by asking for an immediate meeting with First Bus.

 
 Lets hope it works...    hopefully they will be getting more that a stern talking too . Its a ridiculous situation to be in . Ive friends who know people who work at lf beauty and they are no longer able to get the bus to work which they used to be able to   

[Bob DeBilda]

Clearly a good reason for nationalisation of public transport.
Let’s put public service over profit.

Another clear case is the rescue of Flybe who lose money on routes where they provide a public service.

[Damnit]

It is a complete farse for the kids going to & from college, you pay a yearly subscription to take them & pick them up directly outside the college, then part way through the year they stop short of their contract dropping & picking up on Bradley Road. Now to get into college on time for 1st lesson my son has to leggit up College Road. Whilst on subject of the buses who on earth in their right mind would get the changeovers done, in both directions both in dangerous positions by Hawkridge where visibility is vertually zero, having to navigate around buses parked for a lengthy amount of time?

[baldy]

The change in the changeovers was done by First Bus.

Wiltshire Council's Westbury Area Board has pressed for the changeovers to occur back on Link Road (the main road into West Wilts TE) but First Bus insist that they cannot do this now because the depot there is no longer insured to allow this as they are in the process of closing it and they can't just do a u-turn in the road.  Wiltshire Council as highway authority does not have powers to stop the bus company from using a pre-existing bus stop as a layover or changeover spot.

The highway engineers have looked hard at moving the bus stops further into the verge so that buses laying over or waiting for a changeover do not block the road but it has proved impossible to find a new location nearby or further into the same verge due to very high voltage cables laid in the ground that are in the way.

Even the police agree that it is dangerous but can't do anything about it.

We've been trying to deal with this for over a year and have even asked the MP to try to persuade First Bus to co-operate but they insist that they have to do it the way they are and, in any event, they are trying to cope with an un-viable route ...  which they are probably going to close anyway ....

[Debs]

Whilst on subject of the buses who on earth in their right mind would get the changeovers done, in both directions both in dangerous positions by Hawkridge where visibility is vertually zero, having to navigate around buses parked for a lengthy amount of time?

    agree   totally hideous place to do turnarounds AND also to walk to in order to catch the bus in the first place. No pavements, dark unlit DANGEROUS road to walk in especially in these dark early mornings and evenings ....   someone isnt thinking of anything else apart from money or trying their hardest to make the decision to stop the journey completely . No more westbury n trowbridge before 9am . 
There was a time when i worked at unigate in the 70s and 80s. I was able to get on a bus in trow and get to the ham IN TIME to start work and 7.15.   You couldnt do it now .    Ken and others cant get to lf beauty and airsprung in time to start their shift. Its only a 15 min journey or less depending on traffic why do first direct have to make it  more difficult  that it needs to be.       How they can say it doesnt work so  want to drop it? Ken has been at airsprung for 2 yrs...  in those 2 yrs i driven him most days because transport is either non existent or  not the right timings.  He finishes at 4.30 but if he uses buses to come home he isnt walking through the door until gone 6pm at night. Again when i worked at unigate i would get on the 3.10ish bus at the ham in the afternoon and be in my door in trow long before 4pm.     
This firm needs a rocket up their arse big time . They cant expect people to use it if its not working for them and they cant get to work on time or college / school .    Talking of the college bus. I use college road daily and any bus would have great difficulty in going along college road on any day . The parking along there has got absolutely ridiculous over the past 2 yrs ive been going along there. Cars double parking oppositite each other or just slightly staggered just makes it difficult for even my little corsa let alone a 50 odd seater bus or fire engine or ambulance