Dial-a-bus is axed
THE Laurencekirk A2B dial-a-bus service is to be axed from Sunday April 25, because of lack of use.
The service was introduced in May and was designed to provide a feeder bus service to the newly reopened Laurencekirk railway station.
The shock news of the withdrawal of the service was broken in an e-mail to local councillors by Marion McKay, Principal Officer with the Public Transport Unit.
She said the service was promoted locally via a variety of leaflets, posters, and newspaper adverts. It was also featured in ScotRail's magazine, and leaflets have been distributed at the station car park.
She added: "However, despite the best endeavours of the Council and the operator to promote the A2B service the level of usage has been extremely low.
"Laurencekirk A2B is one of a number of bus services that are being withdrawn on the same date."
In a separate e-mail, PTU Princpal Officer Neil Stewart gave details of the other services facing the chop and these include the Edzell Woods - Montrose service, via Laurencekirk on a Friday and Saturday evening.
He wrote: "We are currently undertaking an 'in-depth' review of supported services, however, a preliminary review identified a small number of services which were performing very badly and, following consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Infrastructure Services Committee, these will be withdrawn with effect from 26th April 2010."
Mr Stewart's figures showed that the axing of the dial-a-bus service will save Aberdeenshire Council an estimated 88,000 pa and the Edzell Woods service a further 5,000.
Mearns councillor George Carr immediately wrote to transport chief Iain Gabriel, protesting that the news had leaked out before elected members had been informed.
He said: "I appreciate the budgetary constraints we face, and which we will see escalating as time goes on, and accept that services like this must be scrutinised for effective uitilisation of resources.
"Scrutiny of such initiatives is important and I have to say that I was totally unaware how poorly used this service was.
"That I have to say is partly the fault of local Cllrs for not requesting a progress report and I take my share of responsibility for that. However, we saw this service commence in May along with the opening of the station and were led to believe that all was well with passenger usage exceeding all expectations.
"At no point were we given an update on the dial-a-bus which was initially agreed at Mearns Area Committee, and therefore an update report on problems should have been presented back to the MAC, say after the six month period.
"It could also have alerted us at an early stage that problems existed and possible action could have been taken to promote the initiative were that the main problem."
Marion Mackay replied saying: "I understand your concerns regarding finding out about the service withdrawal prior to receiving notification from the Public Transport Unit. Nicoll's Coaches were advised of the decision on Tuesday 10 February (to give them the opportunity to de-register the service with the Traffic Commissioner) and it is regrettable that local members were not advised on the same day.
"The poor usage of the service has been very disappointing. Whilst we understand that rail passenger numbers are higher than expected, the A2B dial-a-bus has been under-utilised. Whilst it is generally accepted that it takes time to build up the usage of a new bus service, the level of patronage after almost nine months of operation has remained extremely low despite local publicity initiatives by both the Council and the operator.
"It would appear that many of the rail trips could be generated locally, with passengers walking to the station, whilst others are travelling by car.
"With regards to advising members of usage, an annual A2B dial-a-bus bulletin report is submitted to Area Committees in May providing information on service usage etc for the previous financial year, and the report scheduled for May 2010 will, for the first time, include the Laurencekirk service.
"Under normal circumstances local members are consulted as a matter of routine on any proposals to revise or withdraw A2B dial-a-bus services. However, on this occasion it was felt that urgent action was needed in response to the budget situation and therefore the decision was taken to terminate 10 local bus service contracts with immediate effect including Laurencekirk A2B."
Councillor Carr commented: "This service was introduced in May last year to coincide with the opening of Laurencekirk station. Many of us thought it was a great initiative enabling residents to access the new train services or to connect with other modes of transport.
"Public transport is something which residents regularly raise and it was hoped that this would enhance existing services for the more remote settlements. However, it has been an expensive service with users being in single figures per day with an average cost per trip of around 100. Clearly this is unsustainable.
"We now have an opportunity to look at different options on public transport and we should look at radical solutions as there is undoubtedly unmet demand, especially down the coast.
"Frequency of buses, routes, times taken for journeys and cost are all factors which influence whether people will use public services and I have asked that Council Officers look at alternatives.
"The size of buses is also a consideration not only for environmental reasons, but because of our narrow rural roads and the limited space to maneuver in villages. This exercise is vital considering that public money goes into providing these services."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Montrose
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Mist
Temperature: 2 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
