Co-operation with Bus Operators (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Co-operation with Bus Operators

September 12, 2006 2:00 PM
By Cllr Zoe Patrick in Full Council

This motion is calling on the Cabinet member for transport to give some thought to better co-ordination with our bus operators. I was first alerted to this some over a year ago now, when there were major road closures within my ward, and it came to my attention that the buses would have to be re-routed. However, not a lot of thought had originally gone into this, until I managed to get myself involved with the planning stages, so that I could try and maximize publicity, alert passengers to potential delays, and somehow try and smooth the way for roadworks to take place.

We all know that essential roadworks have to take place and I am not arguing against that. However, better planning around this which takes into account our bus operators are essential.

During the summer, there have been some major delays in Oxford city, in particular around the Harrington roundabout whilst key works have been going ahead. I ended up with a fair bit of case work around this mainly due to in Oxford High Street. Buses held up coming in and then out again, meant that they were becoming so far behind in their schedules that people were either late for appointments, late for work, or worse, as I heard in some cases, having to pay for taxis or relatives traveling great distances to bring them in. This not only has the effect of people losing confidence in public transport, but also means that the bus companies are having to deal with the consequences of the delays.

If we try to ensure good co-ordination and planning with the bus operators we can attempt to keep disruptions to a minimum. We need to encourage public transport as much as we can not make it less attractive."

So all I am asking here today is that we ensure that the bus companies are involved right at the beginning of the planning process, when major highways maintenance is going ahead, which in turn means they can reschedule buses or give out some public notices to help with grumbling passengers who are having to let off steam on the bus drivers.

Even when the roadworks lists go out from the County giving the details of works going on we could try to incorporate some information for passengers to obtain from bus companies. This in turn means at least they are prepared for delays and could therefore possibly make other arrangements or perhaps catch an earlier bus.