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"I would like to now pass my congratulations to Bridgend Bus Company on improving the 263 service. It has been more reliable since Bridgend County Borough Cuncil agreed to pay for one bus per hour to run from Bridgend to Porthcawl and back, with the other two services terminating at North Cornelly."

"One hour journey on the bus to Danescourt at peak times - a journey which should take fifteen minutes! The trains are a joke as well!"

"Bridgend's new bus station is probably the best I've seen, but I now don't have any bus services through Kenfig Pool apart from Sunday since Shamrock withdrew the 263 service on Monday to Saturdays."

"I used to live in Cardiff and still work there, I use various methods of transport both private and public. Newport is far better on price and punctuality. Unfortunately there will be areas where motorists ignore the by-laws and other rules of the road and cause snarl ups by their actions."

"I am going to make everyone jealous!! I live on the Oakfield estate in Cwmbran - on July 10th 2004 we used to have 10 buses a day. That was one an hour on the half hour. From the 12 July this was raised to over 80 a day and from mid September this will rise again to over 120!!! We must have the best bus service in the WHOLE OF BRITAIN (possibly the WORLD) never mind Wales."

"Getting back from shows in Cardiff is a nighmare. National Express used to have a late bus from Cardiff to Newport but although the bus still runs you cannot get on it."

"The people of Draethen were the predominate users of the former bus stop at Lower Machen; since moving this stop 250 metres hardly anyone uses the new stop. This move was done despite many protests from regular users from Draethen and Lower Machen. How daft can you get?"

"There appears to be a complete lack of control of illegal parking within the city limits, not just the city centre - parking on double yellows is the norm and double parking on double yellows is frequent. PLEASE will the police and city council make more of an effort to enforce these parking laws and let Cardiff enjoy the bus service that the efficient bus company is trying to provide."

"I often use buses, but am disappointed by the lack of publicity here. There seems to be no bus maps other than ones for Wales generally. Obtaining timetable leaflets is quite difficult."

"They were not running and there was not information to explain why. It is now a regular occurance for buses in the Newport area not to run. Nothing is being done to improve the situation. Even school children are left stranded. Only the other day school buses from Afon Village failed to turn up. Is this the way to encourage people to use public transport?"

Gwent Joint Passenger Transport Unit have provided this response:

"In February 2003, Gwent Buses were awarded ten local bus service contracts in the Gwent area. These contracts were accepted and registered with the Traffic Commissioners to start operation on 28th April 2003. Included in these contracts was the X15 Sunday service.

"Five days before the contracts were due to start operation, Gwent Buses informed the Gwent Joint Passenger Transport Unit (JPTU) that the company could not recruit enough drivers to commence operation on the agreed date.

"Since that date, Gwent Buses performance has resulted in the termination of nearly all of those 10 contracts awarded in February. Unfortunately the timescales involved in arranging for a replacement operator has resulted occasionally in a break in service.

"With respect to the X15 Sunday contract, the JPTU were aware of the performance of Gwent Buses. The contract has been monitored and complaints forwarded to the company. Gwent Buses had indicated it would terminate the contract with effect from 1 September 2003. The JPTU therefore re- awarded the contract to Stagecoach in South Wales - the replacement operator would start the contract on the 7 September 2003.

"Unfortunately, the cost of awarding the contract to Stagecoach was significantly higher than the original cost paid to Gwent Buses. The JPTU has had to therefore renegotiate with Stagecoach to reduce the number of driver shifts, but meet the most significant volume of passenger demands. Due to the very short notice period involved, the JPTU were unable to widely publicise the timetable alterations in advance.

"In August, disputes arose between Gwent Buses and the JPTU with regard to the payment for the operation of these services. The JPTU had requested additional information to substantiate the payment claims and not all the information requested was received. As a result, Gwent Buses withdrew its remaining two contracted local bus services with immediate effect.

"The Traffic Commissioner, whose responsibility is to regulate the bus industry by awarding operating licenses to companies such as Gwent Buses and monitor their performance on registered bus services, has been informed of the problems passengers have experienced in the Gwent region and a response is awaited."

"Much has been written and reported about the Open Top Bus Citysightseeing Tour trialled in Newport over the last four weeks. I would like to thank all those who have supported the service in such large numbers and trust that they enjoyed the tour.

"To those who haven't tried the service yet, it ends on Friday 5th September 2003 for this year. We have noted the positive and negative comments and will be reviewing them over the winter."

"There seems to be little if any attempt to improve the timekeeping of their services. The normal response to complaints is to blame it on traffic congestion. I have used the Newport service 17 and for the bus company to blame traffic congestion for delays to it is ludicrous - it is hardly affected by congestion at all... how can people be expected to abandon theirs cars when services are so poor."

Trevor Roberts, managing director of Newport Transport, responds:

"The comments and articles in the South Wales Argus and on the BBC travel news would suggest that traffic congestion is a problem in Newport and it has a knock on effect throughout our network. If Mr Jennings would like to email us (newporttransport@btconnect.com) with any specific journey problems we would be happy to investigate and respond.

"In relation to the Service 17 (much has been written before) then I reiterate that the current service is provided without assistance and its continued operation is under review. After months of deliberations by a local community working party we are waiting for confirmation of any suggested changes.

"The Council have confirmed that they are not prepared to financially assist the service or an increase to its frequency. As soon as feedback is received from the Council on the results of the working party then the Company can consider whether to make any further changes to the route."

"However I think services could be improved - with better frequency, cleanliness of the seating area (some are very suspect)and in paticular the main terminals. Why are bus terminals the mecca for drunks, and druggies and street beggars?

"I think the area transport authority needs to put together a think-tank to work out ways to improve these areas. And new ways (without putting up fares) to create additional revenue to finance these improvements.

"The people of South East Wales deserve a better and cleaner public transport service. The ironic part of this is that we have more than an adequate capabilty to achieve a first class service if the the transporters (privatised) will put service before excessive profit."