Victoria S

Buses.

Our local town is in a political battle of blame over buses. Our town has one bus provider, Arriva, and they're saying they'll cut buses to essential places (including no longer servicing the bus stop by the mental health hospital) by early July cos local council won't give them enough in subsidies (shockingly it's mostly the routes that service the elderly and disabled that are getting cuts, the ones full of concessionary bus fares). Local council has gone public saying the bus service is using cutting routes to hold council to ransom with most vunerable users cos they want more money that every other bus service in the outta area has happily accepted. While they fit for tad on who's the blame and will council pay more or will arrica cut these essential services. And I'm sitting here, trying to figure out how I'm meant to get to therapy without the bus, taxis are £10.50 one way to mental health hospital, I can't afford a two way trip once a week. Let alone all the other groups and services I attend to help manage my mental and physical health.

I applied for a concessionary bus pass, in April, still not heard from them.

It seems like such a small problem to most, but it isn't to those of who trapped and restricted by these service cuts left right an center.

I hope either arriva back down and keep the services, or council pays then to keep it. I'll be angry at arriva for the latter, council tax is already so high as it is and it's not like we have any other choice there are no other bus services except arriva in out town.

Oh but don't forget while all this goes one people get blamed for using their cars and clogging up the roads, gov and drs and who knows who else say "use the bus, ditch the car, save the planet" and that's pointless with no buses to use, or when those buses can use the vunerablity of elderly and disabled service users to bully the council into paying them more. If they do get paid more they'd still up their costs and not pay their drivers enough. Greedy fits.