Julian Calls for Review of York Bus Network
May 2, 2013
After hosting a public meeting in Haxby for residents concerned by the deterioration of the No.13 bus service, Julian has called on First and other bus operators to review their networks to achieve better services for local residents.
At the recent meeting, which Julian chaired, over 50 residents from Haxby, Wigginton and Copmanthorpe were given the opportunity to raise their concerns directly with representatives from First. The most common concerns raised by residents centred on the poor reliability and frequency of the No.13 bus.
In response, Ben Gilligan, the Service Delivery Director at First, said that he accepted that the company had made some mistakes with the No.13 service and others and that they would be looking to rectify the problems associated with these services. Julian, who has been lobbying First to review their network for some time, asked the representatives to carry out a thorough and wide-ranging consultation process in the coming weeks so that their customers could drive forward the improvements they want to see.
On the meeting, Julian, who has been campaigning tirelessly for better bus services across his constituency, said:
“It was great to see the residents of Haxby, Wigginton and Copmanthorpe coming out in force and speaking up loud and clear about what they feel to be a significant deterioration in the bus services they rely on. I must also express my gratitude to First for coming along to listen to my constituents’ concerns and for their open minded and optimistic approach to improving their services.
“However, for too long bus services in York have not been fair to all who use them. While people in certain areas are serviced by regular and reliable buses, others have been left to wait hours for buses that often don’t even show up. I feel the time has now come for First and the other operators in York to initiate a full review of their bus networks, to ensure that all residents in the York area receive frequent, reliable and convenient bus services, regardless of where they live. I will continue to campaign for this on behalf of my constituents, who I feel deserve better.”
Pictured above and below: Julian chairing a public bus meeting in Haxby
