Tag: Transport

20mph limits outside schools but council leader blocks wider speed restrictions on residential streets

20mph limits outside schools but council leader blocks wider speed restrictions on residential streets

Most Shropshire councillors arrived at December’s council meeting by car. It seems that habit has conditioned them to be oblivious to the need to calm our streets. To reduce speeds in residential streets. To make them safer. Equally important, to make them more pedestrian friendly. To encourage mutual respect between different ways of travelling. To promote active travel – by foot and on cycles. The council did agree to introduce 20mph outside schools. But most of the Conservatives voted against areawide 20mph limits to slow traffic on residential streets on the instruction of the council leader Peter Nutting. That is a failure of leadership.

Announcement on future of Ludlow Kidderminster bus service due this week

I have received a lot of calls, emails and messages about the future of the 292 service between Ludlow and Kidderminster. R&B Travel has surrendered its licence to the Traffic Commissioner after its directors faced a public inquiry over repeated failings. The contract for the route is let by Worcestershire County Council with Shropshire Council contributing part of the subsidy. We understand that final details of the contract and timetable from 5 January are being finalised. I expect details to be available by the end of the week. Until 4 January, it is expected that the current R&B operation will operate as usual.

A plea to Ludlow bus passengers – please keep seated on the town buses until they stop

I have been on buses in other towns and cities a lot of late. One thing I have noted is that people sit in their seats until the bus has come to a halt at a stop. This doesn’t happen much in Ludlow. Passengers in our town, many elderly, stand up well before the bus stop despite the “Stopping” sign having been illuminated. This is dangerous and completely unnecessary. Passengers should remain seated until the bus comes to a halt at the stop. It is time to ditch this dangerous habit. We don’t want anyone injured. We want our bus services to run smoothly for the benefit for everyone in our community.

Welcome changes to timetable for Ludlow to Leominster and Hereford bus service from Monday 2 September

Welcome changes to timetable for Ludlow to Leominster and Hereford bus service from Monday 2 September

Doom and gloom have surrounded the rural bus network for many years as services are relentlessly cut back or axed altogether. But every now and again, there a glimmer of hope. With thanks to work by Bus Users Shropshire, Lugg Valley Motors will be introducing an improved 490 bus service between Ludlow and Leominster and onwards to Hereford from next Monday, 2 September. The service calls at Overton Touring Park, Richard’s Castle, Orleton and Luston. The new timetable adds additional services to and from Ludlow on weekdays and Saturdays, and the bus will call at Ludlow School on schooldays. The service is subsidised by Herefordshire Council. Shropshire Council does not contribute.

FIT strategy for Shropshire buses published as mood changes against bus cuts

FIT strategy for Shropshire buses published as mood changes against bus cuts

The mood is changing on buses. For many years, rural bus services have been cut back. They are threatened with more cuts as council finances dwindle. Now Shropshire Council has said it will roll back some of the planned bus cuts after a consultation produced an unprecedented response from bus users. But the council still lacks an up to date bus strategy and a plan for long term investment in the bus network. Bus campaigners are stepping into the gap. At the end of last month, the Foundation for Integrated Transport (FIT) has published a report on Shropshire Rural Buses. The author, Professor John Whitelegg says failure is embedded in the current system and change is now necessary. His report concludes: “It is in fact very easy indeed to provide high quality rural public transport in a way that supports vibrant, healthy, economically successful rural communities and contributes to keeping…

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