Bus services on Bank Holiday Monday

[kevofaz25]

After a great day in Liverpool at Mathew Street Festival in the sunshine- arrived back at 2045 to find the buses had stopped running as it was Sunday service- how many more were caught out by this??

 

How long will the Council hold out on the whole Sunday bus service fiasco?

[Bazj]

Taxi?

 

Car?

 

Lift off parents?

 

There is more to life than a bus, plus it was a lovely night for a walk!

[Dizzy]

Most people by now know the bus service in Warrington is naff on Sundays so you should have known better Kevo

 

Infact they are generally naff at night too.

 

Found that out when my son and his mates got stuck at Westbrook after going to the cinema one Friday night. Most walked all the way home in the dark but mine and another used their brains and got a taxi which I paid for when it arrived at our house. They had to phone me from outside as the taxi driver was holding them to ransom

 

?10 from Westbrook to Stockon Heath though... I should have let the driver keep them both :

[asperity]

If there had been four of them then ?10 for a taxi (?2.50) each would probably be cheaper than the bus anyway!

[kevofaz25]

Just me- several sheets to wind and almost skint- taxis nowhere to be seen.. was a nice walk on achy legs- straight to bed for 10 hours kip.

 

No warning about the absence of buses- perhaps I expect too much?

[Freeborn John]

No public transport after 6pm...welcome to the town that thinks it should be a city.

[Bazj]

Good job the Wolves team didn't come back on Bank Holiday Monday or that bus ride around the town would have been right out of the window!!

[Dizzy]

 

Not wanting to stick up for the council but they did put some additional busses on for the wolves homecoming day so all the supporters could get home We drove there and parked for free on the empty cockhedge car park though

[vic]

Don't blame me. I voted Labour.

[Bazj]

so you are responsible for the mess we find ourselves in then Vic

[fugtifino]

No public transport after 6pm...welcome to the town that thinks it should be a city.

 

Haha.

 

Well put.

[observer]

Presume from VICars comment, that "Labour" would continue running empty busses, and take the Company in the red to do it?!

[Dizzy]

Always thought you were a Labourer too Obs... well I never

 

Problem is that those without cars rely on public transport and ours is pretty naff at times not to mention rather costly (well it was last time I went on a bus anyway )

 

There used to be a lot of small private busses on the roads... do they still exist or have they gone out of BUSiness ?

 

Maybe the Pink Ladies Female Members 'Only' Taxi Club should branch out and start up more members clubs specifically for Sundays, bank holidays or night time.....one for teenagers, one for rugby supporters, one for cinema goers, one for daytrippers, one for dads coming home from the pub........... sorted

[observer]

The Bus Co, is an "arms length" Co of WBC, and subject to the rigours of the market - now you can subsidise empty busses by all means - but you would need to be paying more in Council Tax - still interested?!

[Dizzy]

Think we pay enough for 'nothing much in return' already thanks Obs.

 

Even IF we all paid more council tax it wouldn't be spent on the things that people actually need or want as we have no control over any council spending or cuts.

 

Personally I'd rather not pay any council tax at all and just pay towards what I need or want (ok so that is not feasible) but for other services or council spends which are forced on us I'd like to pay a reduced rate for NOT having them thus using what I save on other more important things

 

Why should we contribute to the cost of traffic lights or new roundabout layouts that are not actully needed but have been decided on by some council officer or panel of people trying to justify their being?

 

And then why should we pay again to have it put right after it didn't work after all

 

So just what are we all getting in return for paying our council tax... at least with all the other bills I pay I know what they are for

 

Over ?100 a month in CT is extortionate but I guess those of us who do begrudgingly pay it (with the knowledge that if you don't the councils bailifs are not an entity to be questioned) are subsidising the others who can't pay or who the bailiffs can't touch

 

Anyone got a bus to catch by the way.... you'd better hurry up

[Peter T]

Always thought you were a Labourer too Obs... well I never

 

I believe he had a falling out. or was he exorcised?

[observer]

Think your confusing Party dogma with idealistic innovation and pragmatism. If you provide a service where there is no demand (at the moment), you merely throw money away on empty busses. However, if you gradually change the transportation culture, through incentives to use busses (EG cheap fares and/or free passes) and at the same time provide a disincentive to use a private car (EG tax plus we already have congestion), thus one pays for the other . It's called thinking outside the box!

[asperity]

I'm with you on cheap fares Obs, though government doesn't help with fuel taxes (maybe concessions on public transport is a thought?) Further taxes on the motorist won't wash as they already pay more than their fair share and the evidence is clear that higher taxes do nor deter the car driver. Local government need to make public transport a priority and put it above their pet projects like traffic lights at every roundabout, white and yellow lines on every available piece of tarmac, and 3 metre stretches of cycle lanes. (Add your own pet local government waste of money projects in the space provided................................................). Too much government is costing us a fortune for no actual return.

[observer]

IF, folk arn't detered by increasing road taxes, which I doubt - as we all have our thresholds - it would mean that free pass schemes could be extended from the grumpies, to the under 18s, thus getting them used to using public transport and perhaps reducing their zeal to have a car asap. As the roads gradually empty of cars, congestion will reduce, making those who are still paying road tax feel they are getting their moneys worth, whilst the rest can spend their money on something else!

[Bazj]

Obs.... have you borrowed Kijes rose tinted glasses? There is no way you will price enough motorists off the road to free up space before you bankrupt the country with increasing transportation costs for food etc.

 

Just look at things like fags and booze.... a packet of fags can cost up to 7 quid, but people unbeliveably still smoke!

[observer]

That's my point; car drivers are a tax well that can be fully drained to provide free public transport. However, fair point about haulage, however, some tax penalty on them may reduce food milage and encourage local production. Thought the counter arguement would have been, that it would only allow "the rich" car driver, to stay on the road; but isn't that how we (used to) use tax anyway - tax the rich to provide for the poor!

[asperity]

And once you have drained the tax well, where is the money for the free public transport coming from? (As if, by the way, any government would actually be able to resist the temptation to use all that lovely money for something closer to their heart than providing the plebs with transport!)

[observer]

It's a balancing act Asp: if the roads de-congest and the well begins to dry up, the tax is lowered - it's about carrots and sticks and what the punters will take.

[asperity]

You are talking rubbish Obs, if you lower the tax rate as the number of cars decreases then the tax take will decrease even faster making it impossible to fund the cheap public transport even sooner. Typical naiive socialist economics I'm afraid

[observer]

Not if the tax take is maintained in excess of it's usage - thus providing a margin to cover your eventuallity.