Let’s talk about the bus, baby

Because what is more exciting than buses?

Another week, another Local Authority. Not sure much has changed this week other than the horrifying fact that I’ve aged by an entire year thanks to my birthday, which is frankly unacceptable. This year is the last age starting with a 3 too, so expect to see this newsletter become a vessel of me hurtling toward a mid-life crisis or something. Obviously there’s always the possibility that this newsletter was indicative of that in the first place, but we’ll park that to one side for now. Anyway, as ever, thanks for reading, remember to subscribe and ‘smash that like button’, as I believe the kids say.

Let’s talk about the bus, baby

There’s little more sexy than buses. Unless you count pretty much every other form of transport anyway. Buses lack the convenience of cars, the speed of trains, the exercise benefits of cycling, the thrill of trams, or the sheer peril of boats. But regardless of how any of us may feel about buses, they are a crucial part of our transport mix, and typically the most used public transport option for the poorest sections of society.

In an average year, just over 8 million bus passenger journeys are made in Medway, which is quite a lot! Before I looked up that figure I didn’t really have an idea of how many such journeys there were, but 8 million reflects nearly 30 journeys per resident in any given year. Which seems high or low depending on how you look at it. For the people who use buses regularly, they are certainly making hundreds more journeys than that. For the majority of us, particularly given the demographics of this kind of newsletter, it’s more likely we’re not making any at all.

Which is likely why our bus network in Medway feels like something of an afterthought. Something that isn’t particularly helpful given how many people will be dependent on it.

So what is the state of buses in Medway in 2022?