BBC article on Stoke bus cuts

[robf]

I'm not in the area, so I'm not sure how relevant this is but I saw this on the BBC today:

Bus cuts: How a city's bus service was quietly cut in half

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

 

[NorthwoodValiant]

Public transport should be publicly owned at the end of the day.

Buses in Stoke aren't profitable for a private enterprise

[Santa]

I tried to get a bus after the Vale game on Tuesday night.

Most of the time in Stoke on Trent I end up getting a taxi.

[Guitar Ray]

You know things are bad when you’re more likely to be gored by a unicorn than see a bus in many parts of the city.  I’m not suggesting for one minute that the local unicorn population are any more violent than those from elsewhere by the way.

[Emile]

After the wembley game was my first experience of Stoke public transport in a while. With no buses available to kidsgrove and a rush on taxis I walked home to pick up a car and drive back to burslem to pick up my dad and also two other vale fans stranded.

Was amazed to learn there is no buses after something like 8pm?!

[philpvfc]

20 hours ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

Public transport should be publicly owned at the end of the day.

Buses in Stoke aren't profitable for a private enterprise

So yet again, the tax payer should be paying. Not like the council have got millions to spare on an unprofitable bus service.

[NorthwoodValiant]

1 hour ago, philpvfc said:

So yet again, the tax payer should be paying. Not like the council have got millions to spare on an unprofitable bus service.

I mean it depends what you want Phil.

Actually being able to get about stimulates economic growth, however the transport system in itself will never be profitable.

As a society though there is an advantage to better transport links.

Private companies such as First obviously don't care about other people's businesses being profitable (which is understandable) and have to try to make their business profitable, hence cutting bus routes etc

Is the massive downturn of stoke in the past few years related to public transport cuts? Who knows

[Emile]

Just to add here I pay 1 euro per day for transport across the entire of Vienna. Buses, overground trains, underground trains and trams. Heavily subsidised by the government and my taxes but produces a very easy, stress free transport system with no need to own a car.

[NorthwoodValiant]

7 minutes ago, Emile said:

Just to add here I pay 1 euro per day for transport across the entire of Vienna. Buses, overground trains, underground trains and trams. Heavily subsidised by the government and my taxes but produces a very easy, stress free transport system with no need to own a car.

And does that make you more likely to go out and spend your money elsewhere?

Does that mean you are free to use your time more productively whilst travelling?

[JoeB2]

2 hours ago, philpvfc said:

So yet again, the tax payer should be paying. Not like the council have got millions to spare on an unprofitable bus service.

Affordable and well-connected transport systems are one of the key things in boosting an urban area's economic activity. We live in a very poorly connected, spread out urban area in which car travel is the only way to get around reliably, clogging up the dual carriageways.

The council were given £57m as part of the first tranche of the Levelling Up Scheme but have largely frittered that on physical regeneration projects which will never have the footfall in an area with low spending power and poor transport links. Of course, they had little choice as the Levelling Up Scheme was basically 'build something new and shiny ahead of 2024 or you're not getting the money'. So, the council did have millions to spare.

One way to address Stoke's many long-term issues is to allow people to access their place of work and areas to spend cheaply and with ease. Local bus services are the quickest and easiest way of doing this.

 

[darren1810]

If you live in Wolstanton Porthill Maybank Newcastle then you can't get home after a night match. Only option is taxi or walking .

[Emile]

And does that make you more likely to go out and spend your money elsewhere?
Does that mean you are free to use your time more productively whilst travelling?

Yes. It keeps the city moving.

[Howjy04]

Hasn’t the city been allocated £32m to improve bus services?Thought I heard it on RS this morning.

[NorthwoodValiant]

6 minutes ago, Howjy04 said:

Hasn’t the city been allocated £32m to improve bus services?Thought I heard it on RS this morning.

Yes  this is the case i believe, when we get this money I don't know, and how much of it is used for improving as opposed to 'keeping running' is anyone guess

[Guitar Ray]

We’ve got a new VLR tram system coming so we’ll be sound.  Burslem will be on the Northern line apparently.  I think the trams look like the one pictured below…but less modern….