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I think the approach of Labour to public transport is too weak. They propose franchising which is in essence acknowledging the role of private bus companies to the delivery of transport which in effect means profit on what is essentially a public service. He’s proposing a system that has failed on trains for buses. Rather than a London style bus service perhaps he ought to look to a 1970s style South Yorkshire transport systems. Look at places like Tallin with free at point of use local bus services and look at what happened in SYorks back in the cheap fares era. Bus use was six times what it is now. We didn’t need to spend money widening roads, and although we hadn’t invented Climate Change back then, the system’s outputs offer a very good match. I would say that if local buses were free rather than just cheap it would be much more effective at reducing car use and give local authorities a carrot to offer the beleaguered motorist being moved out of their cars.

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Thanks for your comment Christopher. You may be right but Mayor Coppard has prioritised public control over public ownership as he sees it as a more realistic aim in the short term (he's not ruled out public ownership in the future). Given the fact that the government refuses to give us the money we need to improve services that would indicate that we would find a fully publicly owned bus system difficult to pay for. He could raise money himself using the mayoral precept but that obviously comes with a cost as well.

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Aug 21, 2023Liked by Dan Hayes

Charlton Bakery pics need at least twice the interval. Ta.

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Thanks Fredi. I'll try to change the gif next time.

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Public transport to the AMRC site is very poor but many people are travelling there now by bike, or e-bike, using the two Sustrans routes from the City Centre and from Meadowhall. Unfortunately there is only a rough track down to the site from Waverley cottages, whereas there is a tarmac path down to Waverley Township.

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Thanks Simon. It's good to hear that more people are cycling there but it would be good if bus routes were improved as well. And isn't the cycling route from the city centre partly blocked as well?

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Absolutely the bus routes need to be improved and there is a possibility of opening a rail station at Waverley that should be progressed. The route isn't blocked - there are two closures on the Five Weirs Walk but that goes along the river to Meadowhall rather than to Waverley.

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Levelling up or not, our mayor clearly doesn’t have enough money. I am even not sure if it’s not still illegal to run a subsidised municipal bus company. But I’d like to see politicians consider this as an alternative to a system where private businesses are profiting on providing a public service where competition has clearly failed. There is a huge amount of money being spent on road building and maintenance. More on public transport and less locking climate change into our economy the better. The mayor needs his party to support a policy change to succeed on this and I am not seeing it.

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