Heyfordian have been running the subsidised Abingdon Town Bus Service since June 2010. It connects places off the main bus routes.
The new contract from June 1st 2015 has been won by Thames Travel.
The main difference comparing the old timetable shown above …
and the new service downloadable from Thames Travel is that services before 9am, and after 3pm have been cut.
County Council officers reported to councillors that “There is barely any recorded use of the Abingdon town services in peak periods: as a result the peak hour journeys provided by service 40 in the morning and late afternoon are likely to be withdrawn.
Usage reduces significantly in the afternoon, particularly on Saturdays. An earlier finish may provide an opportunity to reduce costs if necessary and protect the overall level of service for the busier part of the day.”
What a let down!
I tell you why there was little to no recorded use, that was because the heyfordian drivers were useless!
Several times I have caught the 40 from the war memorial out to tesco/fairacres in the morning in the last few weeks, and seen that anybody who the driver recognises as a regular doesn’t get registered on the ticket machine. Therefore… No recorded usage!
This happened so much, that one morning last week I actually asked for my mine back when I got off, because nobody else had paid!
These buses have saved my arse several times first thing in the morning, when running late/getting drenched.
So thanks to the heyfordian drivers for cocking it all up.
Let’s hope the people who rely on this service to get out & about didn’t want to have any sort of life after 3pm! This is making our elderly community more isolated. More Government cut backs making people suffer again.
It appears that the officers making their report to the council may not have sufficiently checked the quality of reporting made to them. This is the danger of remote management. If in our brave new world decisions are made on inadequate evidence, we will get inadequate decisions.
The Drayton Road traffic survey has been a typical example of poorly managed and review data collection. So this latest example is nothing new., Rather, it seems to be somewhat depressingly more of the same.
Good decision making requires accurate information; this can be costly and time-consuming, but in the end it saves time and money. One wonders about the questions asked of people at interview time… Checking the paper is important, checking the mindset is more important still.
Incompetence is rife !
just check recent local council election issues
– local candidate applications not submitted !
-papers not sent to candidates because of boundary changes!
WATCH THIS SPACE !
exclamation marks overused!
random accusations without evidence!
did I mention the exclamation marks? !
The local candidate application not submitted was (or rather wasn’t) for me. This was not an issue with the council or the elections office though – purely an admin cock up (for which I’ve received apologies) by the political party I was due to stand for. It was an honest mistake and unfortunately these things happen sometimes.
Whilst it’s very frustrating for me personally, I’d hardly take it as evidence of widespread incompetence.
Well it comes this ( use it or lose it.)