I glanced an item in the Beccles and Bungay Journal this week (not yet online) that the Beccles Welfare Vehicle has rebranded itself as the Beccles Community Bus to boost bookings. It's news to me this bus even existed, perhaps that's there's no website for it has been a factor. This is a 12 seat minibus owned by Beccles Town Council which is run by a trust so users have to join it for £1 and then they can hire the bus for 60p per kilometre. This should not be confused with Beccles and Bungay Area Community Transport.
It isn't clear if this hire includes a driver (as comparable HACT charges do) or whether the hirer's driver must have a D1 license and a MiDAS certificate or not. It looks attractive though, for example people without a bus service could hire this minibus to collect them and take them into Beccles for shopping. If they got 8 passengers and the bus travelled 40 km, each passenger would only pay a fare of £3 per person. A 1:8 volunteer/user ratio is very good considering most 'Community Car' schemes operate a 1:1 service and a single passenger pays for that at around 30 pence per kilometre.
But if you have a plan for communities to hire their own minibuses and get volunteer drivers to replace services cut by the county council, it's not just that easy. If you passed the UK test before 1997 a D1 category on a driving license is automatic but if you passed the test at 17 or so after then, you could be about 30 years old now but not have it. This is a obstacle for Community Transport Operators to recruit volunteer drivers to provide public transport as without a D1 you must have a PSV license and those cost around £1000 per person in fees and training.
My correspondence with the DVLA confirms that a Handy Bus Club driver doesn't need a D1 nor MiDAS certificate to drive a minibus if used for that service model.
The Beccles Community Bus hire contact is Michael Doherty 01502 716324 or michael.doherty@onetel.com (he’s also Beccles town councillor). This situation would be ideal for Beccles or anywhere else to start up a Handy Bus operation to use a surplus vehicle that is otherwise costing money and having spare vehicles available nearby builds resilience for all the local CTO services.
A bus passenger reported to me that Anglian Buses have recently begun a policy of charging a child fare to riders presenting a OAP concession pass before 9.30 AM (unless exempt route). That is much fairer than charging full fare and response to this indicates that most concession holders would gladly pay something towards their fares.
A paper on ‘Halesworth Integrated Sustainable Transport Strategy’ was asked for and provided to Halesworth's county councillor Tony Goldson by Halesworth Town Plan Group to inform a bid to the central governments Sustainable Local Transport Fund. Halesworth's proposal asked for £150,000 to pilot extending the local area served by community transport and create a brand new cycle route towards the coast avoiding the B1123, (which is something I myself have been championing for several years.) It has been reported to me that Councillor Goldson's response was that "it was not considered of sufficient priority for the national bid but would be included in bids for Suffolk funds in the future..." It needs to be determined whether that was his decision or that of the SCC portfolio holder which would be Cllr Guy Mcgregor.
There was an article recently in the Beccles and Bungay Journal and similarly in the EADT about the isolation people are feeling now many have lost their bus services. It's not online but the headline was “Fear as village folk lose lifeline” but in response; Derek Johnson from Shadingfield has started a petition for a 'Bus For Us' because Demand Responsive Transport, or what he calls community taxis, don't work. The Beccles & Bungay Journal has more information on the petition. When I showed the petition to a Suffolk County Council transport officer, they said "oh, I wondered when the protests like the libraries were going to start for the buses..." Both Derek Cocker and Guy McGregor have frequently stated to me that DRT is the only solution on offer and as SCC have lately made significant investments in Community Transport Operators who are prepared to run buses on a DRT model, many independent parties consider it undeniable, on the evidence of their actions alone, that their position won't countenance support for those CTOs who won't.
People are also complaining about the new 520 Anglian Bus timetable as it is no longer coordinated with as many trains at Halesworth as before, which is rather more the fault of the train company National Express than the bus company. You now can't get down to Ipswich or London on an off-peak fare nor home from the station by bus in the evening. This link is something that took years of lobbying to achieve, and ironically, £6500 was just spent on providing a bus shelter at the station and thousands more to create a turning space for the buses. Many passengers for Southwold used to use this service. Now there is even more parking pressure on Halesworth Rail Station from people now using their cars to meet the train which is exacerbated by Waveney District Council removing several free car parks in the town and raising parking charges to a multiple of 65p, determined no doubt with the mendacious knowledge most people will have to pay with £1 coins.
There have also been complaints that the new bus schedules and service cuts mean that students attending college in Norwich can’t get home after classes, putting more people on the road driving empty cars to collect their children in rush hour after classes or less affluent children dropping out. Many passengers have complained that the 17.45 service on the Anglian 588 from Norwich to Bungay but supposed to continue on request to Halesworth isn't being honoured and the 16.05 through service has been leaving Norwich early. Fact is, Halesworth is cut off from Norwich after 5 pm and has been for years. I myself have been stranded in Norwich when the 588 is suddenly cancelled or has departed early. I tried a few times taking a bus from Norwich to Beccles in the hope I could then catch the Beccles to Halesworth train but this route requires covering 3/4 mile between the station and the bus stop in about eight minutes.
Also on train services it appears that signalling works for the Beccles Loop have already begun work at Saxmundham though the installation of the lifts at Ipswich Station is now behind schedule and they won't open before June. Without through-trains either, this is a great barrier to people travelling with luggage. It has been widely reported that National Express have lost their franchise for East Anglian services. No doubt followers of the Twitter hashtag #nxeafail are rejoicing.
Southwold Town Council have given and applied to SCC for match funding for an alleged total of £40,000 subsidy from public funds to remove bus services from Southwold's High Street to ease congestion in the town. It seems to me to be backward thinking if the congestion is caused by cars not buses. I suggested on my Twitter stream a ban on cars would be better. Again the story is not online but the Lowestoft Journal of April 1 had the headline "Bus ban plans get green light". Now people will have to walk about several hundred yards further to access the shops, something many older people will find difficult to do. My twitter complaint of this madness was responded to by the local MP Therese Coffey that "issue was one-way route for buses disrupting residents". I understand that a local CTO offered Southwold TC their expertise to set up a minibus service on a circular route to enable shoppers and residents from Reydon and outlying parts to access the town without causing congestion but no action has been taken.
It isn't clear if this hire includes a driver (as comparable HACT charges do) or whether the hirer's driver must have a D1 license and a MiDAS certificate or not. It looks attractive though, for example people without a bus service could hire this minibus to collect them and take them into Beccles for shopping. If they got 8 passengers and the bus travelled 40 km, each passenger would only pay a fare of £3 per person. A 1:8 volunteer/user ratio is very good considering most 'Community Car' schemes operate a 1:1 service and a single passenger pays for that at around 30 pence per kilometre.
But if you have a plan for communities to hire their own minibuses and get volunteer drivers to replace services cut by the county council, it's not just that easy. If you passed the UK test before 1997 a D1 category on a driving license is automatic but if you passed the test at 17 or so after then, you could be about 30 years old now but not have it. This is a obstacle for Community Transport Operators to recruit volunteer drivers to provide public transport as without a D1 you must have a PSV license and those cost around £1000 per person in fees and training.
My correspondence with the DVLA confirms that a Handy Bus Club driver doesn't need a D1 nor MiDAS certificate to drive a minibus if used for that service model.
A bus passenger reported to me that Anglian Buses have recently begun a policy of charging a child fare to riders presenting a OAP concession pass before 9.30 AM (unless exempt route). That is much fairer than charging full fare and response to this indicates that most concession holders would gladly pay something towards their fares.
A paper on ‘Halesworth Integrated Sustainable Transport Strategy’ was asked for and provided to Halesworth's county councillor Tony Goldson by Halesworth Town Plan Group to inform a bid to the central governments Sustainable Local Transport Fund. Halesworth's proposal asked for £150,000 to pilot extending the local area served by community transport and create a brand new cycle route towards the coast avoiding the B1123, (which is something I myself have been championing for several years.) It has been reported to me that Councillor Goldson's response was that "it was not considered of sufficient priority for the national bid but would be included in bids for Suffolk funds in the future..." It needs to be determined whether that was his decision or that of the SCC portfolio holder which would be Cllr Guy Mcgregor.
People are also complaining about the new 520 Anglian Bus timetable as it is no longer coordinated with as many trains at Halesworth as before, which is rather more the fault of the train company National Express than the bus company. You now can't get down to Ipswich or London on an off-peak fare nor home from the station by bus in the evening. This link is something that took years of lobbying to achieve, and ironically, £6500 was just spent on providing a bus shelter at the station and thousands more to create a turning space for the buses. Many passengers for Southwold used to use this service. Now there is even more parking pressure on Halesworth Rail Station from people now using their cars to meet the train which is exacerbated by Waveney District Council removing several free car parks in the town and raising parking charges to a multiple of 65p, determined no doubt with the mendacious knowledge most people will have to pay with £1 coins.
There have also been complaints that the new bus schedules and service cuts mean that students attending college in Norwich can’t get home after classes, putting more people on the road driving empty cars to collect their children in rush hour after classes or less affluent children dropping out. Many passengers have complained that the 17.45 service on the Anglian 588 from Norwich to Bungay but supposed to continue on request to Halesworth isn't being honoured and the 16.05 through service has been leaving Norwich early. Fact is, Halesworth is cut off from Norwich after 5 pm and has been for years. I myself have been stranded in Norwich when the 588 is suddenly cancelled or has departed early. I tried a few times taking a bus from Norwich to Beccles in the hope I could then catch the Beccles to Halesworth train but this route requires covering 3/4 mile between the station and the bus stop in about eight minutes.
Also on train services it appears that signalling works for the Beccles Loop have already begun work at Saxmundham though the installation of the lifts at Ipswich Station is now behind schedule and they won't open before June. Without through-trains either, this is a great barrier to people travelling with luggage. It has been widely reported that National Express have lost their franchise for East Anglian services. No doubt followers of the Twitter hashtag #nxeafail are rejoicing.
Southwold Town Council have given and applied to SCC for match funding for an alleged total of £40,000 subsidy from public funds to remove bus services from Southwold's High Street to ease congestion in the town. It seems to me to be backward thinking if the congestion is caused by cars not buses. I suggested on my Twitter stream a ban on cars would be better. Again the story is not online but the Lowestoft Journal of April 1 had the headline "Bus ban plans get green light". Now people will have to walk about several hundred yards further to access the shops, something many older people will find difficult to do. My twitter complaint of this madness was responded to by the local MP Therese Coffey that "issue was one-way route for buses disrupting residents". I understand that a local CTO offered Southwold TC their expertise to set up a minibus service on a circular route to enable shoppers and residents from Reydon and outlying parts to access the town without causing congestion but no action has been taken.
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