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What price the Town Rider?
October 15, 2008 8:05 PM
The Leader of Guildford Borough Council Lib Dem Group, Cllr Fiona White, says that the letter pages of the Surrey Advertiser indicate just how popular the Guildford Shuttle Bus was and how angry residents are at its withdrawal. No doubt it is in response to that anger that the Council have decided to run a pilot of the Town Rider which is a poor substitute. People wanting to use the Town Rider have to join the Dial a Ride scheme and then pay for each journey which must be booked in advance unlike the Shuttle Bus which was available to everyone, free and could be accessed simply by standing at the bus stop.
One of the reasons advanced by the Council for ending the Shuttle Bus was the cost of the service so it is reasonable to ask how much the Town Rider pilot will cost. I asked for that information more than once at the council meeting on 9th October but got no reply. I was told it would be funded out of the Dial a Ride scheme but no-one could tell me what the cost would be. This raises two further questions:
1. Do the Council know how much the pilot will cost and, if not, how do they know whether it will reduce the Dial a Ride service, and
2. If the Town Rider can be funded out of the Dial a Ride budget, why couldn't that money have been put to keeping the Shuttle Bus going, which is what the residents of Guildford really want?
I think the Conservative Executive councillors should come clean, admit they made a mistake in cancelling the Shuttle Bus and reinstate it as quickly as possible, if necessary by an interim contract with a bus company while they go through a tendering process.
To add insult to injury, the Shuttle Bus vehicles are being used on existing bus routes in Guildford, so they would be available if the Council had the will to reinstate the service.
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