Councillors Respond to Criticism Over Withdrawal of Bus Service

Published on: 23 Aug, 2024
Updated on: 24 Aug, 2024

By Martin Giles

Criticism from a Dragon reader about the withdrawal of a bus service in Guildford has been responded to by the Cabinet member for Transport at Surrey County Council and the local county councillor.

In his letter, Dave Middleton said elderly and less-able residents relied on the 20-year-old 538 bus service, which provided a direct link between the north part of Stoughton, Bellfields, Slyfield, Jacob’s Well and the Burpham shops. The loss of the service, which allowed social interaction between passengers, would leave them with no timetabled, direct link to supermarkets.

See: Withdrawal of 20-year-old Bus Service Leaves Us Unamused

Cllr Matt Furniss

Cllr Matt Furniss (Con, Shalford), Cabinet member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, responded: “We always take the views of residents seriously, and in October 2022 the council consulted on a Countywide Transport Review which gave bus users and residents the opportunity to comment on suggestions made to the proposed services.”

He said that after carefully considering the feedback, a decision was made by the Cabinet in March 2023 to withdraw a number of “shoppers” bus services which operated on one or two days a week, and replace these with the Surrey Connect Digital Demand Responsive Transport services. Some shoppers’ services were stopped in September 2023 with the remaining services being withdrawn at the end of this month.

He added: “Surrey Connect is an on-demand bus service which enables residents to book a convenient stop-to-stop bus journey when they need it, up to seven days in advance or just 30 minutes before travel. It has been rolled out to improve access to sustainable travel where fewer traditional buses are on offer, using accessible minibuses which can help people who may be isolated due to their location and those who have had to traditionally be heavily car dependent.

“This change allows residents the opportunity to travel more frequently and also to different destinations than the limited shoppers services. Where Surrey Connect already operates, resident feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. In making this step change with much better provision, a handful of infrequent and relatively poorly used bus services are being subsumed into Surrey Connect, offering residents a modern, innovative service.

One of the new electric Surrey Connect buses

“Passengers who previously used the shoppers services can book travel between 7am-7pm Monday to Friday and 8am-6pm on Saturday. Journeys can be booked on the app, online or by telephoning the booking line on 01483 744807.”

Cllr Julia McShane

But the county councillor for Guildford North, Lib Dem Julia McShane, who is also the leader of Guildford Borough Council, appeared less sanguine about the change. She said: “I hope that the cabinet member responsible for withdrawing the 20 year old bus service will provide a full explanation as to why that decision was made.

“Representations on behalf of residents affected have been made by the Guildford Lib Dem county councillor team and also by Guildford’s Liberal Democrat MP, Zoe Franklin.”