Good to see Medway’s seemly never ending managed decline in its bus services get a mention. I travel by bus a lot all over the country, and compared with similar sized cities and conurbations the service is poor - there is very little in the way of real time information at most bus stops, and the vehicles themselves are aging - the age of Arriva’s fleet varies between 6 and 19 years - and are of course, diesel. Add to that Arriva’s owners, Deutsche Bahn, basically put the UK bus operation up for sale a while ago, so there’s no real investment from their side. Recruitment continues to be challenging. And there’s hardly any service to huge swathes of the area after 7pm. Over the border in Kent (Gravesham), however, things are looking up with the County Council re-tendering the Fastway service and awarding to a new operator, Go-ahead, and a bus improvement plan in the works. Medway Council would do well to become more involved with the running of the network - a lot of people do rely on it, and the improvement of it is key to get people out of their cars and lower pollution and congestion.
Good to see Medway’s seemly never ending managed decline in its bus services get a mention. I travel by bus a lot all over the country, and compared with similar sized cities and conurbations the service is poor - there is very little in the way of real time information at most bus stops, and the vehicles themselves are aging - the age of Arriva’s fleet varies between 6 and 19 years - and are of course, diesel. Add to that Arriva’s owners, Deutsche Bahn, basically put the UK bus operation up for sale a while ago, so there’s no real investment from their side. Recruitment continues to be challenging. And there’s hardly any service to huge swathes of the area after 7pm. Over the border in Kent (Gravesham), however, things are looking up with the County Council re-tendering the Fastway service and awarding to a new operator, Go-ahead, and a bus improvement plan in the works. Medway Council would do well to become more involved with the running of the network - a lot of people do rely on it, and the improvement of it is key to get people out of their cars and lower pollution and congestion.
Its 'Sir' Joseph Williamson, not 'St'...! :)