Letter: Council Should Call Meeting to Try and Stop the Bus War

Published on: 19 Nov, 2018
Updated on: 19 Nov, 2018

An Arriva bus on route B.

From Bob McShee

Independent borough councillor for Worplesdon

In response to: Stagecoach and Arriva’s Guildford ‘Bus War’ Leaves Safeguard Feeling The Pinch

Since Arriva started to run services A, B, C, the roads in Park Barn and Westborough have become further congested due to many of the roads being narrow and restricted by parked cars.

Until the University of Surrey changed bus operators in July, the three bus companies operated together in the west of Guildford.

Now the local bus company, Safeguard, is being squeezed out by the larger national bus companies, Arriva and Stagecoach, who are using, buses which are heavier and cause more damage to the roads and more air pollution.

Safeguard is currently moving their garage from Ridgemount to Jacobs Well and can ill afford being involved in this ‘bus war’. The move will remove the current bus movements in/out of the garage which can cause some disruption to traffic flow, in Madrid Road/ Guildford Park Road. In future, this brownfield site could possibly be used for housing in Ridgemount.

An early meeting needs to be held, chaired by the Borough Council’s lead member for community transport to resolve this problem.

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