FROMES BUS SERVICES UNDER THREAT FOR A SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS

 It was 3 months ago that Frome suffered a bitter blow by First bus cutting 4 out of 5 of our bus services. Luckily those 4 services were taken over by other operators. Now we hear that Scc plan to cut funding to 3 of our Saturday bus services being the 53/ 58 and 414/424 along with the 33 wednesday service to Wincanton.
The 414/ 424 Saturday bus service came under threat of having its funding cut earlier this year in the last round of consultations made by Scc.
The 53/ 58 and 414/ 424 are operated by Frome minibuses who are a small family run operator. Frome minibuses also have their 669 service Shepton to Street under threat of having its Saturday funding withdrawn this will be a devasting blow to them if all of these routes are cut.

BUSES UNDER THREAT OF BEING CUT NEXT YEAR

 The affected services are listed below. SCC would like to consult with as many Somerset residents and groups as possible and we would be grateful for your views on these proposed changes before a final decision is taken by the Council early in 2016.
Route No Service Details Operator Days Operated Frequency Proposal
1 Yeovil – Shepton Mallet South West Coaches Mon – Sat 5 return journeys per day. Withdraw Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
6 Bridgwater Town Service Bakers Dolphin Mon - Fri Hourly between 9am – 2pm Withdraw service – Alternative services are available within walking distance, and for those unable to access these, SCC’s demand responsive transport (Slinky service) and community transport is available.
16 Langport - Bridgwater Hatch Green Coaches Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw Saturday service and revise weekday timetable to remove 0715 journey from Bridgwater and 1800 journey from Huish Episcopi.
20 Seaton – Taunton Devon County Council (Stagecoach South West) Mon – Sat Every 3 hours Withdraw contribution to Devon CC for this service – Frequent services available between Wellington and Taunton. West Buckland could be served by the Slinky service if service 20 is withdrawn or re-routed.
22 Tiverton/Cullompton - Taunton Buses of Somerset Mon – Fri College days only Withdraw funding from July 2016. Service likely to continue to be provided commercially.
25 Taunton – Dulverton Buses of Somerset Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw all funding for this service – Service 25 will continue to operate commercially between Wiveliscombe and Taunton Mon to Sat. New reduced service to be introduced between Dulverton and Wiveliscombe to connect with service 25 Monday to Friday
29 Wells - Street - Taunton Buses of Somerset Mon –Sat 5 return journeys per day. Withdraw funding – peak service to continue to be provided on a commercial basis. Partial off peak service to be provided either commercially or through Demand Responsive Transport.
33 Wincanton – Frome South West Coaches Wed only 1 journey in each direction Withdraw service – Slinky service available
38 Huish Episcopi Extension Webberbus Mon - Fri College days only Re-route other existing public transport service to cover Huish Episcopi extension. Timetable revised accordingly.
40 Bridport – Yeovil Dorset County Council (Damory Coaches) Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw contribution to Dorset County Council for Saturday service – Mon to Fri service remains.
51 Stoke St. Gregory – Taunton Hatch Green Coaches Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
53/58 Warminster/Westbury - Frome Wiltshire County Council (Frome Minibuses) Mon – Sat Hourly Withdraw contribution to Wiltshire CC for Saturday service – Mon to Fri service remains.
67 Burnham on Sea – Wookey Hole Webberbus Mon – Sat 9 return jnys per day Withdraw minor funding contribution – Service to continue on fully commercial basis.
81 South Petherton – Yeovil South West Coaches Mon – Sat Hourly Withdraw funding – This may result in some reduction to the current timetable as funding supports two return journeys Monday to Saturday. The remainder of the service is commercial.
99 Chard – Yeovil Stagecoach South West Mon – Sat Hourly Reduce frequency on service between Yeovil and Chard.
113 Highbridge - Berrow Hatch Green Coaches Mon – Fri 5 return journeys per day. Withdraw service – Other public bus routes available within walking distance. Slinky service also available in the area.
158 Wincanton – Shaftesbury Dorset County Council
(South West Coaches) Mon – Sat 5 return journeys per day. Withdraw contribution to Dorset County Council for Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
198 Minehead – Dulverton Webberbus Mon – Sat 5 return journeys per day. Service to be reduced and provided by smaller vehicle.
414/424 Frome – Midsomer Norton Frome Minibuses Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
667 Wincanton – Street Nippy Bus Mon – Sat Every 90 mins Withdraw Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
668 Shipham – Street Bakers Coaches Mon – Fri 4 return journeys per day. Minor timetable revisions when contract is retendered in 2016.
669 Shepton Mallet – Street Frome Minibuses Mon – Sat Every 2 hours Withdraw Saturday service – Mon to Fri services remain.
776 Shepton Mallet – Midsomer Norton Hatch Green Coaches Mon – Sat 5 return journeys per day. Withdraw service – Other public bus routes available within walking distance. Slinky service also available in the area.
N9 Martock - Yeovil Nippy Bus Mon - Sat Hourly Withdraw funding from 0800 journey on Saturday. Mon – Fri service and balance of Saturday service remains.
N10C Stanchester School – Taunton Nippy Bus Mon – Fri One journey in each direction Withdraw funding from non-college day journeys. 

Bus deregulation 30 years on

On the 30th anniversary of bus deregulation, guest blogger Simon Norton, of Cambridgeshire CBT, looks at what effects it's had and sets out his priorities for reversing the current bus crisis.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the legislation that deregulated our buses, so it's an appropriate time to ask how they have fared since.
It's sometimes said that rail privatisation was intended to remove railways from politics. If so, it's failed -- they are now more of a political issue than they've been for decades. However, in these terms bus deregulation has been a resounding success: most of the media, politicians, and environmental and social campaigners, both nationally and locally, have all been silent (in some cases, no doubt, because they're unaware of the issue) as buses have been cut savagely.
Buses should be one of the most important political issues. Transport is so embedded into our society that its removal is a serious curtailment of people's civil liberties. Cars blight our communities with pollution, danger, congestion, noise and climate change emissions; but all too often escape to the countryside, whether to live or visit, demands - guess what? - a car.
But bus deregulation has stunted the development of effective user campaigns. Local authorities have abdicated the development of effective area-wide networks to commercial operators, who tend to concentrate on the most profitable routes. This makes campaigning for improvements like banging one's head against a brick wall. Many Local Transport Plans, for example, cover the whole gamut of transport issues except for what matters most to bus users; what local bus networks should look like and how often services should run.
With little support from other campaigners, bus users have suffered in silence as the Government has targeted some of its most vicious cuts on them. Some urban neighbourhoods are now isolated in the evenings and on Sundays, while there are fair sized villages where people can't even get to work for normal office hours. All this while the Government plans massive road widening, airport expansion, rail upgrades, and dedicated routes for cyclists and, yes, buses. But nothing is done for what bus users need most - the far cheaper goal of developing and maintaining a comprehensive network.
A few areas, such as Brighton & Hove, have managed to buck the trend. But, contrary to the stated expectations of some deregulation advocates, these positive results haven’t spread to other areas.
So, my priorities for change would be as follows:
1. Set up new bus partnerships in all parts of the country, to include local authorities, bus operators and bus users. They would have a statutory duty (and sufficient funding!) to procure a comprehensive bus network. At the very least, every village should have services to a nearby town at times suitable for work, school and shopping; and larger villages, urban neighbourhoods and major new developments should have regular services seven days a week, evenings included.
2. Require providers of facilities to take reasonable steps to provide for non-motorists, along the lines of existing legislation for disabled people. This would include the removal of funding from heritage attractions whose opening times don't align with transport availability (e.g. if they open only on Sundays in areas where buses only run Monday-to-Saturday).
3. Use a combination of revised planning guidance and a parking tax to give both new and existing developments incentives to cater for non-motorists.
4. Teach teenagers how to travel without relying on cars - instead using public transport, cycling and walking. Mind you, we'd probably need to train our teachers first. People taking driving tests should also have to show that they know how to travel without a car

A trip to London

Tracey and Emma went to London yesterday to attend Campaign for Better Transport's meeting at the House of Lords. We met politicians, academics and national campaigners. We wanted to find out more about the possible funding cuts for buses, the potential for regional devolution providing more powers to local authorities to regulate bus services and the upcoming founding of Campaign for Better Transport's South West offshoot.

Oh, and Tracey was almost ejected for wearing her Save Our Buses t-shirt - political slogans aren't allowed in parliament!

You can read the full story in this weeks Frome Standard on page 4 and Frome times on page 2

Joining Favbugs e mailing list

Favbug now have an e mailing list that will send you invites to our meetings and receive copies of our minutes etc. Just click on the link below

www.bit.ly/favbug-emails

Somerset puts down devoluttion marker

Somerset County Council and 19 partners across the region today outlined their case for a devolution deal which would benefit the South West and the whole of the UK.
A ‘Statement of Intent’ has been submitted to Government in response to its appetite to devolve powers and budgets from Westminster. With key themes of Economic growth; Health, social care and wellbeing; and Infrastructure and local resilience, the document is not a fully worked-up proposal, but sets the scene for discussions with Government about what powers could be devolved.
It has been prepared by Somerset and Devon local authorities and follows meetings held in August, kicked-off by a devolution summit organised by Somerset County Council. In total, 20 local partners are involved in the submission, which will have the support and endorsement of the business community through the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay.
Cllr John Osman, Leader of the County Council, who called the initial August summit, said: “A lot of authorities have done a lot of work in a very short time to prepare this document – that’s another example of what can be achieved when authorities in the region pull together where we have common ground.
“These are very early stages, but we are ambitious and believe that devolution would help us create jobs, build the right infrastructure and make progress on key issues like health and social care integration.
“We have shared goals with our partners and will be working very closely with them in the coming weeks and months to move things forward.”
Speaking on behalf of Somerset’s five district councils, Cllr John Williams, Leader of Taunton Deane Borough Council, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for all Authorities across Somerset to accept devolved powers with budgets and demonstrate we can deliver improved outcomes for our community. In getting this joint statement together we have seen remarkable cross-Council and cross-border working. With those shared aims already evident it augurs well for the preparation of the fully worked up details for our devolution proposals yet to come.
This is all about Somerset Councils working together to maximise opportunities to enable us to punch above our weight. The level of cooperation between all Somerset Councils is to be applauded. We now have our statement of intent which sets out how we can take control of the all-important themes proposed and move to a fully worked up submission. The need to deliver better outcomes for our communities is paramount.”
Steve Hindley, chair of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership said: “The Heart of the South West LEP is delighted to be a partner alongside the local authorities in their proposed deal for devolution. We will be actively supporting and continuing to work with business to bring about step-change in investment to leverage transformational growth, generate more prosperity and unleashing the area’s economic potential.”
The Statement of Intent is now available on the Council’s website www.somerset.gov.uk/devolution
The partners involved in the devolution Statement of Intent are as follows:

• Heart of the South West LEP
• Somerset County Council
• Somerset’s district and borough councils: Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane and West Somerset
• Devon County Council
• Devon’s district and borough councils: East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge and West Devon
• Plymouth City Council
• Exeter City Council
• Torbay Council
• Exmoor National Park
• Dartmoor National Park

Notes:
The Government has declared its desire to devolve powers and budgets from Westminster to local authorities. It expects any devolution proposals to reflect Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) boundaries and be supported by each area’s LEP.
If an area’s devolution plans include something that the Spending Review might focus on, for instance better use of public assets, then interest should be expressed by 4 September, though this is not a deadline for a fully worked-up devolution proposal.
The Leader of Somerset County Council organised a devolution summit on 5 August, which was attended by almost all South West local authority Leaders and Chief Executives. Somerset’s Leaders and Chief Executives met on 18 August and a similar meeting took place between Devon local authorities on 20 August.
It was agreed that they work together and with the LEP to put together a Statement of Intent/expression of interest.

Temporary bus stop in Dinder

This our temporary bus stop for the little people of Dinder. I know that Scc are pleading poverty but this is ridiculous.