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Local Bus Company ceased operating

Bob McC said:
There is absolutely no problem with bus services in U.K. cities.
It’s small towns rural services that suffer.
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To be fair lots of bus services in London have been reduced as a result of TFL funding being cut by central government. 78 routes are currently 'under consultation'.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tfl-bus-cuts-sadiq-khan-government-b1003642.html

Seems very short sighted to be reducing public transport when lots of roads are already gridlocked during peak hours. Perhaps this is the 'small state' government we've been hearing about?

Though of course services in London are still a thousand times better than rural areas.
 
Darmok said:
Bournemouth Bus Rally - 3rd July 2022

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For a few years I used to walk past the Ian Allen bookshop in Waterloo every day. I'm by no means a bus spotter but the shop window was always a source of great joy. I'd marvel at books with titles like 'North Devon Coach Services 1954-61' or 'Saddletanks of the Harrogate Gasworks Railway'. Just wonderful. I was sad to see it close in 2020.
 
Sorry to hear bounemouth going downhill, we lived in southbourne and christchurch in 84 to 86 and things were pretty posh in bournemouth . I even looked after the founder of damsette there at one point

Southbourne for those nerds amongst us was the scene of a number of one foot in the grave scenes ! Perhap one foot in the grave is a good title for bournemoth now
 
Bjork67 said:
63 into town every 10 minutes here last one about 11pm home £4.70 all day ticket £3.30 a guiness so for £50 or so notes i get arseholed quite reguarly. Taxi firms have surge pricing now and am sick of gettin conspiracy theories concerning jews covid and trump and foreign people off certain drivers.
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It’s funny about taxi drivers and conspiracy theories. Several times I’ve been coming home from Temple Meads absolutely shattered and the taxi driver’s opening remarks, once he’s established my destination, have been ‘Of course you know who controls everything, don’t you?’ If it’s not the Jews it’s the Masons, and if it’s not the Masons it’s the Church of England, or the Royal Family. Fortunately they never need any response other than an occasional ‘mmhm’ or ‘yeah’.
 
It's sad to see boarded up urban high streets, but the cold hard truth is that if people can't afford to use them what do you expect? They will die a death. Unless of course you live in the leafy Cotswolds and can afford £5 for a loaf of artisan bread from an independent baker, in which case no doubt they're thriving.

The high street doesn't serve any real purpose any more, folks can get 99% of what they need when they do their Aldi/Lidl/ASDA shop, unless it is a trip to the bookies or charity shop they need then they're usually a ghost town.
 
Most towns flogged off the car parking to robbing arseholes who have no statutory control over them. Pricing then started to put off people coming into town. Business rates then put the boot in. Local councils have a lot to answer for.
 
My town has plenty of parking and a tram stop. I am walking distance from the centre and there is nothing there I would go for, I occasionally use the post office as it is also the main sorting office but I just park and nip in when passing. The high street is just Greggs, Wetherspoons, some bookies, a Wilko, about 5 Turkish barber shops, endless takeaways and some other tat. I've never been.

It's mainly oldies who still use high streets, once they've all died off then I can see another step change again in how little they're used.
 
Joe Hutch said:
It’s funny about taxi drivers and conspiracy theories. Several times I’ve been coming home from Temple Meads absolutely shattered and the taxi driver’s opening remarks, once he’s established my destination, have been ‘Of course you know who controls everything, don’t you?’ If it’s not the Jews it’s the Masons, and if it’s not the Masons it’s the Church of England, or the Royal Family. Fortunately they never need any response other than an occasional ‘mmhm’ or ‘yeah’.
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It's none of them, it is this guy :

images

1953_invaders_from_mars_008-luce-potter.jpg
 
Bob McC said:
At the prices he charges he should be offering free chauffeur driven Rolls Royces.
It’s a gimmick surely. Who would go the Le Manoir on a bus!
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It's to help get the staff in and out as much as anything, apparently.
 
Me and Mrs Wb are of an age where we’d get free passes if in Wales, Scotland or London.

We don’t.

We live around 3 miles from our (busy) local town centre. I’d love to be able to walk there, shop and get a bus home. Or take the bus both ways even. At £2.80 each each way (£11.20) we simply cannot afford to do that, so often follow an empty bus along the seafront in our car and park as near to town as we can for free. I feel guilty, but not guilty enough, obviously.

Anyway, as a society, for the sake of global warming, we need all public transport to be very heavily subsidised. I’d go for free at the point of use, and happy to pay x pence a litre on fuel to subsidise it.
 
Whaleblue said:
Me and Mrs Wb are of an age where we’d get free passes if in Wales, Scotland or London.

We don’t.

We live around 3 miles from our (busy) local town centre. I’d love to be able to walk there, shop and get a bus home. Or take the bus both ways even. At £2.80 each each way (£11.20) we simply cannot afford to do that, so often follow an empty bus along the seafront in our car and park as near to town as we can for free. I feel guilty, but not guilty enough, obviously.

Anyway, as a society, for the sake of global warming, we need all public transport to be very heavily subsidised. I’d go for free at the point of use, and happy to pay x pence a litre on fuel to subsidise it.
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Unfortunately a half empty bus or a 50 tonne train carriage accelerating and braking with ten occupants aren't good for global warming.

We really need to reduce the need to travel substantially.
 
dweezil said:
Unfortunately a half empty bus or a 50 tonne train carriage accelerating and braking with ten occupants aren't good for global warming.
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Much better than (nearly) empty buses or trains.

We really need to reduce the need to travel substantially.
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However, I couldn’t agree more here. I’d be interested to know how many of the UK workforce who could, and did, work from home during the pandemic still do.

I’d also like to see aviation taxed to the hilt. Or better, a personal transport CO2 ration introduced. Folk with holiday homes in far flung places could choose whether to keep swanning back and forth on crazily cheap flights or perhaps just going once a year and staying, against walking or driving to Waitrose.*

*no, it’s not that simple, but you get the idea.
 
gavreid said:
The last figure I saw was from January and 36% of working adults reported at least one day working from home.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...19pandemicgreatbritain/april2020tojanuary2022
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Thanks.

Significantly that needs to be compared to 49% “during the pandemic”. Obviously we don’t know the number of days a week, but it indicates than in January nearly 75% of those that were, still are WFH to some extent. Good. I hope that trend remains as it’s surely one of the easiest ways for many to improve their carbon footprint, and maybe get a slight improvement in work/life balance.
 
RoA said:
A bus company in Bournemouth, Yellow Buses, has ceased trading after 120 years of operation. Another sad victim of the current economic climate.

Sad for me because I worked for the company some 20 years ago and I have still seen many of my ex-colleagues driving until recently.

Yellow buses, as well as More Buses drove throughout the pandemic to help people get to front line jobs.

Bournemouth is already a shadow of it's former self with many of the large High Street Names having disappeared over the last few years. Debenhams, Beales as well as Cinemas, the Ice Rink, large Pool Hall amongst many other smaller and medium sized businesses not trading anymore.

Westover Road with its beautiful buildings and Bournemouth Gardens next to it, once the pride of Bournemouth, is mostly boarded up, deteriating slowly and quietly.

The Royal Bath Hotel, once a superb Hotel and one of the landmarks of the town overlooking the miles of sandy beaches and joint with the famous Russel Cotes Museum/Galery, was sold to a cheap Hotel Chain and has been run into the ground. In need of major renovation it is a sad sight.

What will the future hold for this and many similar towns?

I am glad and fortunate I have experienced Bournemouth in a different light in the 30 years I have lived here after immigrating from my country of birth but I am not sad to leave it for another country altogether at the end of this year.
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I was brought up in Poole so it is hard to resist taking a primal pleasure from Bournemouth's misfortune. I've always thought that your yellow buses look daft and the old green and cream Hants and Dorset ones were quite classy. Too know that, via a convoluted series of buy outs, our bus company has "won" would excite the 12 year old in me.

That said I travel to small and medium sized towns around the country with my job and what you are describing is the minimum level of degradation in every high street I encounter. Compared to some places in the North of England, Bournemouth in decline is still a bit of a jewel. For many B&M bargains is the "anchor" store.
 
I do not use the bus at all unless absolutely necessary, a few weeks back I decided to go into town & thought jump the bus as opposed to the train. I discovered on stepping onboard that our bus company have a single fare structure, 1 stop or 20 stops is the same price. I got off & got the train instead, felt as if I was paying for the distance involved as opposed to fill the bus coffers regardless of journey length.
 
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