Martin Jevon, Labour parliamentary candidate for the Yeovil constituency, has slammed out at Somerset County Councils newly announced plans for further proposed cuts to supported bus services.
‘I was contacted by a number of South Somerset residents following the announcement’ said Martin ‘Public transport is important to thousands of people in the area who rely on services to get to work, go shopping, attend college, and access GP appointments. We all know that bus services and fares are a major concern for people who are on lower incomes, or for other reasons rely on public transport. This consultation seems to be asking people who are already abysmally served to decide who should have an even more abysmal service.’
Martin pledged to continue his fight for better public transport.
‘It’s about time the county council faced up to its own failings and stop inflicting more pain on the residents of South Somerset. With chronic lack of investment in services, a frozen council tax, and their expensive habit of buying in external ‘experts’ to solve problems of their own creation, it is the councils fault.
Public transport has been neglected by the county. No evening services, no Sunday services, and poor rail links should be tacked as part of a wider look at improving services for the public as a whole.
As a regular bus user myself I am used to the amazing lack of options we have in the area, I’ll continue to fight on behalf of our existing and future public transport users.’
Unless and until we tackle the problem of the lack of proper regulation of bus operators, we will be left with few options other than using public funds to subsidise lightly used services. Why we should be subsidising these privateers in the first place is a complete mystery known only to the architects of the current system i.e. the thatcher government. Operators are quite happy to waste vast sums of money on competing with one another on the most lucrative routes and this has had a disastrous effect on other bus services. The 1930 road traffic act was encted to perevnt this waste and there was never any good reason for it to be repealed other than the greed of the privatised bus operators. Sonething along the lines of TfL in London is needed so as to make sure that these cowboys operate a public service which people can use.