TRANSLINK
Give the bus a go - that’s
what Translink is urging us to do – and many folk on the Ravenhill
Road in Belfast, would love to, if only there were more buses!
Reliable buses are a
simple and vital way of easing congestion on our roads, and when
it comes to getting from A to B, new research by the Confederation
of Passenger reveals that more and more of us are choosing to use
public transport - an extra 110 million bus journeys were made last
year according to research Transport.
But not on the Ravenhill
Road in Belfast! On Your Behalf travelled to the Ravenhill area
and called with a man who’s very annoyed at the cutbacks to
the bus service in his area.
We’d
like to hear what the bus service is like in your area – good
or bad – email
the programme
YOUR COMMENTS
• We decided
to try City Bus on a shopping trip to Belfast. We parked at Forestside
and then took the bus into the centre. The total bus journey cost
£6 for me, my husband and my three small children. That’s
how much it would have cost to park in the city centre anyway, and
we wouldn’t have had to cart everything around on a bus.
• I’m a pensioner
and have a free pass. Pensioners are put off getting the bus because
the drivers stop so far away from the kerbs beside the bus stops.
• This week bus
services were withdrawn in the Antrim area without warning –
both the morning service to Belfast, and an afternoon service have
been cancelled. Apparently school children were standing for an
hour in Belfast waiting for their bus home.
• The bus service
in the Mill Road area of Newtownabbey is non-existent.
• When there is
a route that doesn’t have many people using it, why don’t
they have a small flexibus on those routes!
• Translink have
increased their charges to the Education and Library Boards this
year by 10% Fare to the public only went up 4%. The bottom line
is we heavily subsidise Translink though our taxes which they gain
through charges such as those to the library boards.
• I live on the
Ravenhill Road and I would use the bus all the time, but it is now
unreliable if I want to be on time! Public transport is expensive
and unreliable and very unfriendly!
• Ravenhill is
the only bus service that provides a direct service from Newtownbreda
to Central Station. It is also the quickest route into the town.
Yet they insist on using the most ancient buses, and it is very
unreliable – that is why no-one used it. You couldn’t
have depended on it to catch a train!
Translink:
028 9089 9400
textphone: 028 9089 9463
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