Bus petition handed to First Bus and Council

On Monday, Claire Young handed over our petition to First Bus and council officials at the Public Transport Forum, calling on them to work together to reinstate direct bus links to Southmead Hospital, Bristol Parkway Station and the University of the West of England. The petition contained over 240 signatures.

The withdrawal of the 81 service has left people living in Yate, Coalpit Heath and Frampton Cotterell with fewer buses to Southmead and Parkway. Terminating the 82 at Yate means those living in Chipping Sodbury, Wotton-under-Edge and the villages in between have no direct link at all. In addition, there are now almost no direct buses from the Yate area to UWE.

Claire and others also gave examples of the poor reliability of the 82 service. Having to change buses is bad enough, especially if you are infirm, but it's even worse if you're not sure the other bus will turn up. People will only use a service if they can rely on it.