B&H Buses have put on an extra 56 in the mornings because, with the increasing number of children going to Hove Park School from the Seven Dials area, the single-decker had become overcrowded. But they haven’t added a bus in the afternoon. The bus home wasn’t so crowded. That was because pupils were catching the 27A – which the company scrapped in the same timetable change.
After protests from parents, the company has now decided that it can run a 14 bus from the school to Seven Dials in the afternoon … but not until September. In the meantime, it’ll get the kids to school in the mornings, but they will have to find their own way home again.
This latest episode is entirely typical of what we’ve experienced over the past few years. The bus company insists that it can’t possibly change its services to meet children’s needs, and blames the Council. The Council blames B&H Buses. Eventually we get grudging or late changes after parents and their elected representatives make enough of a fuss.
As for the Council, it would be nice if they finally acknowledged the basic principle that since they drew up the catchment area, they should make sure that public transport is available to get children from one side of it to the other.
MK
[...] Hove Park Parents Group blog, written by parents of pupils at Hove Park School, says Brighton and Hove Buses put another bus on [...]
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This quotes a Council spokeswoman as saying “There are currently buses from Hove Park to Seven Dials area after school …’ We’ve checked with the Council communications office, which has confirmed that she was referring to the 56. Not buses. One bus. As we said, they are currently providing two buses there and one back. It leaves more than half an hour after school finishes.
Roger French describes the old departure time of the 56, 3.24pm, as ‘ideal’. School ends at 3, and the bus stop is about 5-10 minutes’ walk away, on a side street. This meant that children were typically at the stop for 15 minutes or more, away from school supervisors or many members of the public. It was during one of these waits that one child was threatened by a boy with a knife. The wait in that unsupervised location created a risk to children’s safety, so it was hardly ideal.
Comment by hoveparkparents — April 21, 2010 @ 3:59 pm |