Amanda Taylor

News and views about Cambridge and Cambridgeshire politics, especially Queen Edith's Learn more

Bus cuts campaign

by admin on 8 November, 2009

Stagecoach, the major bus operator in Cambridge, has announced changes to services, as reported previously. The changes include cutting two services, the Citi 2 and Citi 7, which will go down from six an hour to four. The changes are set to take effect on 29th November. There has been no consultation with the public, only with the Conservative-run County Council, which has raised no objections.

The changes will affect hospital patients as well as sixth-form students at Hills Rd and Long Rd VI Form Colleges and the Lib Dems are asking Stagecoach to reconsider.

If you would like to do the same, please sign our petition – and pass it on to your friends.

 The City Council has no powers over bus operators — it has been thus since the deregulation of buses under Margaret Thatcher — but we will pass on any comments to Stagecoach.

bus-petition.pdf

   5 Comments

5 Responses

  1. Neil Gooch says:

    I feel that in a time when Cambridge City Council are always bleating about the amount of traffic on city centre roads for our local bus company to be allowed to cut services like this is a disgrace. I think the council should put a huge amount of pressure on the bus company to get them to change their minds about this. I don’t actually use either of the services above, I use citi 1 but if they get away with cutting services on these routes how long before it happens on the others. If I use the bus to get to work it can take me up to an hour to get to work from 1 side of the city to the other, if services are cut then this will obviously increase. Surely we should be increasing public transport not cutting it.

  2. melissa good says:

    Please don’t cut the number 7 bus service. We live in Shelford and it is vital for us. We use it to get into the town centre
    (rather than driving) and our children and many, many other children we know use it to get to and from school in town, thus
    saving parents having to drive in and collect them.

    Given the nightmare traffic in Cambridge it seems crazy to cut a service that’s so vital.

  3. Luis Silva says:

    These two routes are very important for Addenbrooke’s patients and the sixth-form students. Please reconsider.
    Thanks

  4. Thanks for the comments so far. The City Council has no direct authority over bus operators, so cannot directly stop Stagecoach from making these changes. However, councillors and others are campaigning on the issue and we have been having conversations with Stagecoach, who seem surprised by the public response. We are urging them to reconsider.

    Our petition is going well and I shall pass on these comments to Stagecoach.

  5. Aline Guillermet says:

    I live on the West Cambridge site – as many international student and university staff do – and both the citi 4 and uni 4 are vital to get anywhere from there. Many people do not own a car there. There are no shops in the neighborhood, nor are there any pharmacies or GP surgeries – the closest are in the city centre which is a good 25 minutes walk away. I have a bike but the bus has been very useful when I or my husband have been unwell and have had to get into town to buy food or see a doctor.

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