A boss at First Bus has told residents he wants to work with them to find a solution to the conundrum of getting a bus service into a ‘cut-off’ Bristol suburb, ahead of a public meeting on Friday about the issue.
Chris Hanson, a director of First Bus, will join local councillors in Ashton Vale on Friday afternoon to discuss with residents the problems of providing bus services to the estate.
Last month, furious residents told Bristol Live they faced being cut off from the rest of Bristol in the evenings and on Sundays, because of changes to the bus services being brought in by First Bus.
READ MORE: "We're always forgotten" - the estate a mile from the city centre furious at more bus cuts
Ashton Vale has a specific problem - double decker buses can’t get under the railway bridge on the road into the estate from the rest of Ashton - and that means in 2019 when First Bus changed the number 24 bus to double deckers, they no longer ran into Ashton Vale.
Instead, a 24a shuttle bus that could go under the bridge was introduced, but that’s expensive and unpopular.
So now, First Bus are creating an entirely new number 23 bus, which will run from Ashton Vale along North Street and into the city centre - but it will only run once an hour, won’t run early in the morning, will stop at 7pm and won’t run at all on Sundays. Ashton Vale residents said that meant NHS workers in the estate won’t be able to get to work, night shift workers coming to work in the area’s industrial estates won’t either, residents won’t be able to go out on public transport into the evening and the area would have no bus service on a Sunday.
Now, a public meeting is planned on Friday to give local residents and First Bus the chance to discuss the problem.
The meeting, at the community centre in Risdale Road, runs from 4pm to 5.30pm and has been organised by local councillor Tessa Fitzjohn with First Bus director Chris Hanson attending.
“I appreciate this has been a real challenge, but is not the end of the story,” he said. “We are extremely conscious that this change creates a gap for individuals who currently depend on Service 24 on evenings and Sundays. We are keen to discuss this with you all to create a better solution moving forward,” he told residents.
“I know Ashton Vale as it was my first route when I started as a bus driver during my university studies in fact Service 24, and am very keen to find a better solution,” he added.
Follow the latest updates on this story and others like it here
