MY thanks to Cllr Nick Peel for responding to my letter, in which I asked why the GMPTA were wasting £3.2 million on a satellite system that will tell passengers when the next bus will arrive.
Why waste money on a system that will not improve services one iota, and why introduce it on the best two routes in town?
Nick says: "The reason this route (582) has been chosen is that it is part and parcel of the other measures that have taken place on this corridor, most noticeably the bus priority lanes."
But Nick! The "other measures" have obviously had the desired effect. The service is excellent! We do not need to be told by a very expensive satellite system when the next bus will arrive, we know already. Those buses run every 10 minutes, or better, for most of the day.
Nick says the GMPTA are aware that many people choose not to use buses because of unreliability and safety concerns.
Exactly! So does it not stand to reason that this vast sum of money would have been better spent on making services safer and more reliable?
When we have safe, reliable, clean and cheap to use services we can depend on, people will use them. The 582 is proof of this.
It takes half an hour to travel by bus to Leigh, and the buses run every 10 minutes, or better, yet it takes an hour to travel to Wigan, and the buses run much less frequently.
Imagine working in Wigan and having to spend the best part of three hours a day travelling. Yet if I worked in Leigh I wouldn't hesitate to use the bus.
Brian Derbyshire
Ribchester Grove
Bolton
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