Dear Editor
Re: your article of 26 September ‘Grant Palmer blames “low custom” for withdrawal of Brickhill bus service’.
Most of the “low custom” on this route has been due to the sporadic service over the last two years with days on which only several services or no services at all were run.
On their website, they say that this is due to staff sickness and the national shortage of drivers following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Regular customers therefore have been frustrated waiting at a bus stop in the cold and rain for these non-existent buses. As a result, they have drifted away and either not bothered to visit the town, used a motor vehicle instead or had to walk to a distant bus stop served by a different bus service.
Any potential new customers have also been put off by the presence of out-of-date timetables at many stops including the shelter for No 21 at the bus station.
Before the pandemic, patronage had been steadily increasing with nearly 20% seen between 2018 and 2019 and this should have continued after the pandemic.
It should be noted that the No 22 service which is suggested as an alternative runs once on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only.
This year has seen the worst effects to date of climate change throughout the world.
Road transport in Bedford Borough makes up around 40% of the total of the borough’s greenhouse emissions which are the main cause of global warming.
With half of all journeys less than two miles it is therefore extremely important that more residents are encouraged to use sustainable transport such as buses and active travel – cycling and walking.
Peter Blakeman
Brickhill
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