The bus services in Bristol face a 'toxic mix of challenges', admitted the region's metro mayor today, as he called on people to come along to a public meeting about the crisis being held in South Bristol later this week.
The next biannual Bus Forum meeting will be held in Brislington on Thursday, and will give passengers the chance to quiz representatives of FirstBus and Stagecoach, along with Metro Mayor Dan Norris and councillors from North Somerset, about the crisis on the buses in and around Bristol.
There are plans to axe 18 bus services entirely, and the city's biggest bus company, FirstBus has struggled to meet its timetable with a huge shortage of drivers.
Read more: Anger over plans to axe 18 Bristol bus services amid driver shortage
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said there were huge challenges for bus companies and local councils. "Buses in the West of England face a toxic mix of challenges," he said.
"Passenger numbers are 25 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels and inflation is spiraling upwards, sitting at a gobsmacking 40 per cent. But the big problem remains that there is a critical shortage of drivers to drive buses in the region," he added.
"I will not shy away from the many and gigantic challenges we face on the buses at the moment," he added. "The problem of too few drivers to staff our region’s vital bus services is the major one we face as a region - it’s why we’re seeing commercial bus providers up-and-down the country, including here in the West of England, cutting back on the routes they provide. With more cuts in the offing, I understand local people are feeling frustrated and disheartened, and it’s important they have the opportunity to quiz leaders like myself and the operators about what’s happening on the buses right now. I also want to hear locals’ views about what we do next to create the service local people need and deserve," he said.
The West of England Bus User Forum will be held this Thursday at 11am at Saint Peter's Methodist Church, at 170 Allison Road, Brislington, Bristol BS4 4NZ. The Bus Forum meets every six months and is the chance for passengers and would-be passengers to have their say.
Ironically enough, the venue for the next Bus Users Forum, which happens every six months, on Allison Road in Brislington is one place being hit by the bus cuts, with cuts to both the number 96 and the number 36 buses which serve Brislington from across South Bristol.
Mr Norris will chair the forum, which is a question-and-answer session which the Metro Mayor said he hopes will encourage local people to have their say about bus services. This includes looking at individual routes as well as looking to the future of public transport in the West of England by considering important questions about trade-offs and compromises.
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