Bus service is a farce and we deserve better (From Falmouth Packet)

Bus service is a farce and we deserve better

10:52am Wednesday 20th June 2012 in Letters

I AM contacting you because of a growing concern by the general public about the standard of service conducted by the local bus company operating in Falmouth.

I was regularly using the 500 service between Falmouth Golf Club and The Moor, which until April this year was operated by Western Greyhound. Generally I am now forced to use other means of transport or “weather permitting” do the journey on foot. The change in reliability of service occurred when Cornwall Council, in their wisdom, decided to award the route to First Group.

The Greyhound buses were always on time and very seldom had any problems, it had very helpful and cheerful drivers who thought nothing of helping the elderly on and off with shopping, etc. What we have had since the changeover is consistently late to “very late” buses and quite often not turning up at all. Very unreliable.

I fail to understand why any council would give more routes to a company who cannot cope with the routes they already have, you just have to sit on a First Group bus to hear complaint after complaint with stories of people waiting for an hour or more, for buses running late or failing to appear. I don’t have to rely on these stories as I experience it regularly and feel so frustrated that nothing is being done about it.

The majority of people who use the buses (like myself) do not, or are now unable, to drive and depend on them. Now we certainly cannot rely on it. We are not being given a service, it’s a hit and miss, catch it if you’re lucky, farce and we deserve better.

It’s about time the councillors who make these decisions, laughingly, on our behalf, are made to use public transport for a month or so and maybe then we will be given a proper service. The current operators would do well to take lessons from Greyhound on how to treat people and to run a reliable timetable.

When employing someone it is generally considered necessary to carry out a three-month trial period. If this is the case with the 500 route, First Group need to be relieved of their duties and Western Greyhound reinstated!

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