Those with an opinion regarding the cost of travel on buses in Bath have just two more weeks left to share their thoughts before First’s ‘Fairer Fares for All’ consultation closes.
The consultation – which has been running since 1st February – closes on 16th March. People who wish to have their views on the cost of travel on First buses taken into account must return their hard copy questionnaires or complete the online survey by then.
To spread the word about the consultation, First has organised and held 16 road show events at locations across the West of England over the past three weeks.
Copies of the survey have been handed out at these events while staff have also been on hand to answer any questions people have regarding the wider consultation process. In addition to this, the questionnaires have been stocked in libraries, First Travel shops and, where possible, on the buses themselves.
Over the next two weeks, three special events for Councillors will also be held at locations in Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Yate, giving them the opportunity to feed directly into the process. A further event is also being held on the 12 March in Westminster for the regions MPs.
To date, more than 1,400 people have completed the online survey, with more than 200 hard copy questionnaires returned to First by post.
Talking about the process, Paul Matthews, Managing Director for First West of England, said: “We completed an extensive consultation with bus users – and non users – in Bristol last year, asking people how they used the buses, what tickets they bought and what they thought about the cost of travel.
“Having analysed the results we implemented a series of radical changes to bus fares in the city last November. We have since been looking at the wider West of England area asking people what they think about the cost of travel on all our remaining services.
“The latest review looks at all of our services outside of Bristol’s inner zone, with people in Bath, Cheddar, Chepstow, Chipping Sodbury, Chippenham, Clevedon, Dursley, Frome, Glastonbury, Midsomer Norton, Nailsea, Portishead, Radstock, Salisbury, Saltford, Street, Thornbury, Trowbridge, Wells, Weston-super-Mare and Yate, along with many other places in between, given the opportunity to voice their opinion regarding our fares.
“We would strongly urge people to take part in this consultation, particularly if they have strong views regarding the cost of travel on our buses. We’re also interested to hear from people who don’t currently use the bus, to understand their views about how the service could be improved for them.
“The Bristol review led to some pretty significant changes. Children and young people now get much bigger discounts on travel, while the whole structure of fares in the city changed as well. It’s too soon to say what sort of changes we may implement as a result of this consultation but having a proper review, and learning more about how people use our buses, is the first step in the process.”
This consultation will run until 16th March 2014, after which there will be a period of analysis. Any changes made as a result of the review are likely to be implemented during the summer.
The online questionnaire can be found at www.firstgroup.com/fairerfaresforall.
For more information about the Fairer fares for all bus fare consultation, people can also log onto: www.fairerfaresforall.co.uk
