No More Beyond the Northern Wastes

With the reduction of subsidies from Staffordshire Council, our relatively recent discovery of Chasetown and Burntwood as places to drink and eat looks like it will end in April, when the NXWM 10 bus route stops going further than Brownhills at off-peak times.

This is a bit tedious; that’s exactly the sort of times I’d be wanting to use it, but it’s just an inconvenience: I don’t rely on that route for work. There’s changes to Arriva services too, which means a Saturday evening trip to The Crystal Fountain is out, too- and even a daytime visit would mean some clock-watching in early evening.

As I said, this is just inconvenience for me, limiting my drinking choices. I’ll live. It could be more serious for working people (let’s not forget that not everyone works 9-5, and not everyone has access to a car).

It is, of course, a direct result of council cuts, caused by government austerity measures, once again most seriously affecting the poorer people the most: those that can’t afford taxis or a car.

The other factor here, of course, is our old friend bus deregulation. The bus companies are private enterprises, with obligations to shareholders. They want t make money, so if a route isn’t profitable, and they’re not being subsidised by a council, they’ll stop running it- and who can blame them?

Why is it a surprise our roads are choked by private cars?

Good old free enterprise, working for the good of all, again. Thank $deity we’re free of the inefficient shackles of public transport run by non-profit organisations.

2 Responses to “No More Beyond the Northern Wastes”

  1. Willenhall Lad Says:

    The withdrawal of the Arriva 68 dented my drinking habits somewhat – it was very pleasant to pop on one at 7.30 ish to either Great Wyrley or The Vine or The Western and return home on the 10.10. Now I’ve got at least a 12 minute walk over The Knicket – which is out when it’s frozen over – to get the Wednesfield/Wolverhampton or a 20 minute walk to get the 69 which stops running at 6.30 pm.

    But perhaps somebody could come up with a “Beer bus” that picked up people and took them to and back to some pubs?

  2. species5618 Says:

    A small town 8 mile west of Gloucester on the outskirts of the Forest of dean, hold a secondary school.

    kids stay after school for an hour and get service bus instead of school bus home.

    The Forest of dean council reduced subsidies, so stage coach slashed the buses, from every 30 to every 60 minutes

    Now the locals are upset as the kids are stuck in the town for an extra 45 mins and “loiter”
    however the have been NO reported incidents,