Transport

Lead contact Dave Thomlinson ([email protected])

Responses from Jan Cook to questions she was unable to answer at the meeting:-

Shropshire Link, unbooked journeys.
Unfortunately, all journeys undertaken on the ShropshireLink service must be prebooked prior to travel. This is due to the operating laws for demand responsive local bus services (they don't allow "hail & ride" as this is taxi territory).
Carriage of bicycles
I have raised this again and I agree the response is disappointing, but it is not deemed practical to carry bicycles in the wheelchair spaces due to health & safety consideratins. I will keep trying to pursue this.
Extension of Zone 2 to include Church Stretton
This has been suggested and considered carefully before, but currently the zone is already very busy and extending the service to include trips to Church Stretton would impact on provision of service elsewhere in the zone. Currently there is a connection to the rail station at Craven Arms, and those wishing to travel onto Church Stretton are encouraged to change onto the 435 service at Craven Arms. We are aware of the demand and will consider again if it can be accommodated in forthcoming ShropshireLink service reviews.
Run outward/return journeys from & to Shrewsbury as scheduled services
This has been considered for the Zone 1 service in the mornings. It is not possible because the bus performs a school service for Chirbury school so goes straight from Shrewsbury depot to pick up the first pupil for that school run. In the evening the time available for the driver to get back to the depot is tight, operating a resisted service would require an extension of the drivers' hours. It would also mean that there would be a commitment to running that service each day, even if there were no passengers; this would reduce operational efficiencies in the service. Furthermore we believe there would be a limited demand for this service as it would in effect be one-way only, requiring a taxi for the return journey. Zone 1 can now be booked to provide a journey from Bishop's Castle area direct to Shrewsbury.
Direct bus service from Clun to Shrewsbury (use of school buses)
To expand on my answer at the meeting, some secondary school services are registered as 'registered bus services' and are hence advertised as available to the general public. This is generally when there is going to be significant spare capacity on the bus. Where school buses are going to be full or practically full of secondary & college pupils they are not usually registered as public services, as this both costs more (due to requirement to have low floor buses available) and would be pretty pointless as the public are unlikely to get a seat. We have checked the school buses from Clun to Bishop's Castle. From September 2 x 53 seater buses will be operating and these will be full, so the service will run as a school contract not available to the public. If there is in future a need to provide a further bus to cater for additional school/college pupil requirements, and this results in a number of surplus seats, we will consider making the service a publicly available 'registered bus service'.
Extension of 552/553 service to Clun
The vast majority of journeys on local bus service 552/553 are operated on a fully commercial basis with no financial support from Shropshire Coucnil. Therefore any decision to change this service is a commercial one for the operator. We will contact the operatory and ask him to consider the extension of the service to include Clun. However, having looked at the time the existing vehicles have available and the journey time to Clun and back it is unlikely this extension could be accommodated within the existing resources. We will however approach the operator.
Use of Shropshire Link to get directly from Clun to Shrewsbury
Passengers wishing to travel to Bishop's Castle from Clun may wish to consider using the ShropshireLink service. Passengers can then connect with the existing bus services to Shrewsbury. Alternatively passengers can also connect with rail and bus services at Craven Arms for travel to Shrewsbury. for further information on the ShropshireLink service please call 0345 678 9068. Shropshire Council will be undertaking a review of ShropshireLink in the later part of this year. Considerations for direct links to Shrewsbury from Clun (i.e. inclusion of Clun within Zone 1) will be considered as part of this process.
New minibus service Clun to Bishop's Castle
The new transport fund can only put funding to helping establish new bus/community transport services where it can be shown that these are likely to be be financially sustainable in the longer term. I would suggest the most sustainable method of achieving the desired connection from Clun to Shrewsbury is going to be looking at extending/utilising existing services. Hence looking at the other options - extension of service bus or the possibility of using ShropshireLink (both considered above),. or considering use of other existing minibuses in the area - it may be worth exploring this idea with Bishop's Castle's ring-and-ride.
Clun Bridge Traffic Management
I am told that all possible traffic management solutions for the Clun Bridge problem have been considered. However, if you have further ideas or want to discuss this issue further, the contact is Glyn Shaw, Senior Engineer, Highways Maintenance South, based at the Craven Arms depot. Tel 01588 674391 or e-mail [email protected]
Highways Maintenance Issues. Road surfaces.
The question of the use of different road surfaces was raised. without a specific location it is difficult to answer this. It may be because some section of road have been 'surfaced dressed' to extend the life, while other sections in better consider haven't. It could bethat a high friction surface used on the approach to junctions or at severe bends have been left while other sections of a carriageway have been renewed. If you have concerns over a specific location please contact your local Highway Manager who is Chris fisher. Tel 01588 674390 or e-mail [email protected].
Cutting of grass verges
Similarly if you have concerns over the practices about cujtting of grass verges at a specific location please contact Chris Fisher.