Pensioners' Saturday bus service under threat from City cuts

27 November 2008

A Saturday bus service, used by older people in Coleridge Ward, could be axed in a review of bus subsidies by the City Council.

Local Labour Campaigner, Tariq Sadiq, is concerned that funding could be withdrawn from the 114 service operated by Whippet Coaches which runs every half an hour, Monday to Saturday, from the City Centre to Addenbrookes via the Grafton Centre, the Beehive Retail Park, and Sainsburys.

The County Council subsidises the commercial service during the week and the City Council pays for the Saturday service. The contract is due to be re-tendered in April 2009 and the City Council has started surveying its use.

Tariq said

'The service runs through Lichfield Road in Coleridge and is used by the older people who live in sheltered housing there and in Neville Road. I am alarmed to hear that the City Council might be considering withdrawing the subsidy even before the survey has been completed.

'It might not be a very heavily used service but I believe that it is popular with the older residents in my ward who would otherwise struggle to get to local supermarkets and Addenbrookes hospital.

Terry Sweeney, Chair of the Lichfield and Neville Road Residents' Association said

'It's no exaggeration to say that this bus service is a lifeline to many of the sheltered scheme residents in Lichfield and Neville Roads. Any reduction in the service could seriously affect the well-being of some of our residents.

Labour County Councillor Martin Ballard said

'Even if they are not profitable, such services do need to be supported because they provide a vital lifeline to older, less mobile and vulnerable people. The 114 bus should not be judged solely on the volume of users but on how it improves the quality of life for those that do use it.'

Whippet operates mainly older, double-decker buses on this route which has led to complaints from some Lichfield Road residents about noise and possible danger caused by these large vehicles driving between parked cars on a residential street.

Tariq said

'What we really need on this route are smaller, modern buses, with appropriate low-level access for older people. They would also be less polluting and safer and, with better promotion, perhaps they might be more heavily used as a result.