The current 420 bus service running through Burghwallis is to be severely curtailed from 25th July 2016. The first bus to Doncaster will now be timed at 21:22. Somewhere, somebody in the transport operation feels this strident decision makes sense.
Over the past few decades we have experienced an as yet unassailable move towards private wealth and public poverty. Surveys reveal the trust in the CEO’s of large organisations has been significantly damaged. Profit is everything, it influences share value and ultimately the bonus payment to the top brass. Cost cutting has reduced the service level in many areas of our existence, and it is about to get a whole worse in Burghwallis. We are about to have the 420 bus service through the village hacked to bits.
Many of us care not a jot for we are equipped with four wheels and a comfy seat. No bus queues or sitting next to someone with a nasty cough, for we can move about the location with abandon. Our only sin being the noxious fumes squirting out of the rear end. And we need somewhere to park. Supported by the marvels of modern medicine we are ploughing on far longer than our forefathers. Or rather we use to, for now we have discovered a new form of inadvertent euthanasia. That stuff pouring out of the little pipe at the back is killing us at a rate faster than the medics can cope with.
The solution to a degree lies in the use of public transport. One big exhaust pipe is better than 56 smaller ones. Using the bus can make us feel good for we are saving the planet and ourselves. The new London mayor has launched significant plans to restrict vehicle pollution by inducing the population to use public transport or pay a more expensive congestion charge over an enlarged area of London. Locally, however, the managers of our bus service through Burghwallis appear to have turned over several pages and have managed to achieve the exact opposite!
The ageing population of the UK and in particular Burghwallis are to see a revised bus service that will whisk you into Doncaster providing you don’t want to arrive until after 22:00 or get home before 23:30. From the 25 July 2016 the 420 service which runs through Burghwallis is to end. The new schedule will mean from Monday to Saturday the first public transport through Burghwallis will be at 21.22 while on Sundays there is a bus every 2 hours from 09.22 to 21.22.
Those who are able to drive won’t give a sniff for we can can continue to clutter up the roads and pollute the atmosphere. The absence of public transport means not a jot, the comparison between using the car compared with the bus just does not exist. But the reality for the many elderly residents, and our numbers will swell, the trip to the doctor, dentist or candle stick maker will become a huge problem.
This new bus schedule will have a major impact on the elderly residents, disabled and also the carers who tend for special needs children, school children and the less affluent members of society. Poor access to a bus service exposes them to a risk of social isolation. If the bus service were to stop this would result in a one mile walk along unlit country roads to the next village of Skellow.
This bus company has to make profit and is reviewing the unprofitable routes in its operations. Instead of an inducement to win more customers they have chosen to modify our service such that no one will see the point of using the bus. A downward spiral that defies all logic to reduce greenhouse gases, and provide a worthwhile public service. The changes are proposed to take place from 25th July this year. The parish council has submitted representations to the Transport executive of the South Yorkshire Public Transport Executive, DMBC, Ed Miliband our local MP and the Mayor. But you can join in as long as you get cracking. A combined effort is bound to generate more clout. Send your comments to the following people named below. Perhaps you can remind Ed Milband of his past involvement as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, a position he held from 2008 to 2010.
clerkburghwalliscouncil@talktalk.net
01302 725998
Image courtesy of wiangya at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
One comment on “Catching The Bus Leaves Us Standing”
As elderly residents of Burghwallis, my 80 year old husband and I (I am 77), are completely isolated without public transport. We do not own a car, and if we did would be unable to drive because of health problems. We now have to pay taxi fares from our pension, to travel for Chemist, Post Office, Dentist, Doctors, Supermarket shopping, and banking. I realise profits have to be made, but surely somewhere in this age of transport, people’s needs must be met.