Gloucestershire County Council says bus cuts will lead to "healthy frequencies"
Liberal Democrats describe the Conservative's approach to buses as a "race to the bottom".
Last updated 15th Feb 2023
At Gloucestershire County Council's annual budget meeting on Wednesday, the cabinet member responsible for buses, Cllr Philip Robinson said that those campaigning against further Stagecoach cuts should be thankful they're still getting hourly bus.
Cllr Robinson was responding to residents who were angry about Stagecoach cutting further services in Stroud. He added that this will lead to "healthier frequencies " and some areas in Gloucestershire would love to have a bus every hour.
Group Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Ben Evans, criticised Cllr Robinson and the Conservative administration for creating a "race to the bottom" when dealing with the county's bus crisis.
Every single question read out at the meeting concerned buses and the cuts to services coming in on Sunday 19th of February.
Jenny Inglis is part of the 'Stroud Needs Buses' campaign, her child relies on the 67 to get home from their job. With cuts to the evening service, the last bus will now leave at 1840, meaning they'll be stranded after work.
Ms. Inglis asked the County Council, what they were doing to make sure her son could carry on their job in Stroud and maintain a social life?
Councillor Philip Robinson declared there wasn't much they could do, "No one is more frustrated to work within financial constraints."
Adding, they aren't able to fund and protect more routes after the national government rejected a £40 million bus improvement plan.
"Buses need to be really regular"
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio Gloucestershire, Jenny Inglis said Cllr Philip Robinson's comments were "not at all workable."
She added, "To have workable system to encourage people out of their cars and onto buses, they have to be more frequent, you can't be hanging around waiting for a bus.
"I don't agree that an hourly service is a good service, buses need to be really regular to tempt people out of their cars."
Labour's bus budget amendment
Labour's Dursley Councillor, Wendy Thomas, put forward a budget amendment that wanted £70,000 to create business cases for where community transport can be rolled out. She went on to admit that "community transport is not the answer, it is part of a wider solution to helping people get around the county.
"It will be some small step towards seeing where else it would be appropriate to have community transport in place.
"Ultimately, what we need is a complete national re think to how we priorities public transport."
Find out which buses are being effected by Stagecoach's cuts on the 19th of February.