Cheshire East Local transport engagement

[knutstransport]

RE: Cheshire East Local transport engagement

(25/11/2020 21:53)iMarkeh Wrote:  No bus can serve everyones needs though and it goes back to the point that buses can't run for one or two people. They need to run where it makes financial sense to run them. Just because it's a tender, doesn't mean it's acceptable to be very lightly used.

I did not say anything about running a bus for 1 or 2 people. I said it's important to consider why people are making the journey. Only then can you decide what the best approach is. Deciding the solution is a token bus service on Wednesday (for operational convenience) when people need to travel on Tuesdays and Thursdays is exactly how you end up with buses running around with 1 or 2 people on board!

I think what you're forgetting is in the case of people from rural settlements accessing outpatient services if they don't have a car and can't get a lift, the taxpayers will fund a solution in one form or another. It might be a normal bus, it might be an on demand bus like Flexilink or it might be NHS funded patient transport. The latter is the most expensive option and ideally should only be reserved for those whose medical condition prevents them from using a normal bus.

Quote:88 evenings could work but I got the impression they want to aim to meet trains at most of the stations.

I'm not following. I was talking about how it would be easier to meet demand at Knutsford station in the evenings. Most people are travelling away from Greater Manchester, there's one train an hour arriving at 25 past the hour, so a bus leaving the bus station at half past the hour and heading towards Shaw Heath would allow a connection to be made with the train, travel towards the most densely populated part of the town and also the part of the town where people are least likely to own cars. I was saying it would be more challenging at Wilmslow where there's a lot more trains and fewer people per train but didn't say or imply the solution is an 88 evening service connecting with trains at both Knutsford and Wilmslow. In another part of my post I did mention evening outpatient services at Wilmslow Health Centre but if most of the people who need that service are from Wilmslow and Handforth then an 88 service to Knutsford in the evening is not necessarily the solution to that. Of course there is the option of a different route running in the evenings like Handforth to Knutsford, instead of Altrincham to Knutsford if that would better suit demand.