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| Tax payer picks up the fares for three-mile bus ride http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8434 |
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| Author: | JD [ Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Tax payer picks up the fares for three-mile bus ride |
The Western Mail April 5, 2008, Saturday Tax payer picks up the fares for three-mile bus ride - at pounds 123 for every passenger; Using a taxi on the same route costs just pounds 6 A SUBSIDY of pounds 123 is being paid for every passenger on a new bus service - a three-mile journey which costs just pounds 6 in taxi, it emerged yesterday. The "rail linc" bus between Rogerstone and Newport railway stations was launched on the same day in February as the train service between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff. The bus fills in the missing link in the train service between Ebbw Vale and Newport. The Western Mail warned at the time that the bus was unattractive because of its average speed of less than 4mph between Newport and Rogerstone. Two months later, officials have now admitted that just six passengers per day on average are using the bus - which makes 26 trips per day. But the Welsh Assembly Government is providing pounds 224,500 a year in subsidy, via Newport Council, for the service. Allowing for Sundays and bank holidays, when the bus does not operate, that equates to a subsidy of pounds 122.68 per passenger. One Newport taxi company quoted a one-way fare of pounds 6 for the same journey yesterday. The average of six passengers per day contrasts with the popularity of the new rail service, which is expected to carry its 100,000th passenger this weekend. In early February the WAG defended the bus's circular route between Rogerstone and the city centre. It said the route took in "destinations to which a significant number of rail passengers are likely to want to go, including the hospital and key employment sites" such as Cleppa Park, Celtic Springs and Tredegar Park. In effect, the chosen route left the most important destination of all - Newport's centrally located rail station - at the bottom of the pile. Passengers travelling from new stations such as Newbridge and Risca could get to Newport faster by changing to another train at Cardiff or by using direct buses. Managers and officials have recently agreed a more direct route for the bus, which takes 20 minutes. Areas such as Celtic Springs will be served on request. However, people who considered using the bus in the crucial first weeks of the Ebbw Vale train service will have made other travel arrangements or decided to stick with their previous ones. Persuading them to change those habits could be difficult, even with bus journey times more than halved. The old times are also shown in printed and online information. Yesterday the official public transport website Traveline still showed the bus taking 50 minutes from Newport to Rogerstone. The pounds 123-a-head subsidy will not impress bus operators, who were told this year that the WAG - unlike the English government - would not increase bus fuel-duty rebate by 2p to cover last October's duty increase. "There surely must be a better way to spend money on public transport than pies in the sky," said one industry source when told of the pounds 123 subsidy. Transport consultant John Davies, who implemented new rail services and stations when he was British Rail's manager for Wales, used the bus on its first day, when the driver joked about the scarcityof passengers. "I think this is one of those rail-link buses that's in there for political purposes," he said. "Stagecoach run buses every 10 minutes from Newbridge to Newport, so why would anybody change from a train to a bus to get to Newport?" But he said the rail-link bus between Ebbw Vale Parkway and Rassau, via the town centre, was well used and a bus linking Abertillery to the new station at Llanhilleth, now nearing completion, would probably be a success. "There's a case for having a rail service to Newport (from the Ebbw Vale line) but I don't think it will be built much on commuting. It will be built on leisure travel and long-distance connections at Newport station," said Mr Davies. "Newport is strengthening as a retail centre but most employment is still outside the centre." He supported the decision to run trains from Ebbw Vale to Cardiff initially. A WAG spokeswoman said the bus service was an interim measure while Network Rail undertook a feasibility study into a direct train service to Newport. "Given that the bus link was requested by the local community, we're surprised and disappointed that more people aren't using it. However, given that the service is still in its early days, we will continue to monitor passenger numbers and review how it is being used," she said. _______________________________ |
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