Taxibuses and Target

Its not just First who are cutting back, The Taxibuses are being cut back to with the St Budeaux services already gone and the Northern Connect taxibuses also being culled shortly. Our drivers were telling us back in July that the service was due to shut down from this week, although that never happened. The St Budeaux routes did shut as as planned but the 224 continues for the time being although all no one expects it to continue for much longer. There have been lots of rumours but no official confirmation of anything, even the drivers are not sure what is going on.
Although run by Taxifast it seems that these routes are administered by Target Travel who have cancelled a load of their services in September including the popular 52A.

On the 29th July we get two route registrations pop up for target Travel:

PH0006742/40 - ROBERT JOHN RISK, 4 ARCADIA, ELBURTON, PLYMOUTH, PL9 8EF Registration Accepted by SN Starting Point: Whitleigh Finish Point: Estover Service Number: 44B Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 13-SEP-2010 Other Details: Mondays to Fridays

PH0006742/41 - ROBERT JOHN RISK, 4 ARCADIA, ELBURTON, PLYMOUTH, PL9 8EF Registration Accepted by SN Starting Point: Southway Finish Point: Belliver Service Number: 57 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 13-SEP-2010 Other Details: Mondays to Fridays

So at least it appears that Target are not giving up on all their bus services, just most of them! There are no details of these two routes available anywhere yet but it looks like they could be replacing the Taxifast services in part at least, although there is no sign of any official cancellation for the taxibuses yet.

 
I have only just seen two other interesting applications on the VOSA site as I have been researching for this post:

PH1098326/1 - MARK LEGASSICK T/A ST BUDEAUX TAXI BUS, 60 SAVAGE ROAD, PLYMOUTH, PL5 1BR Registration Accepted by SN Starting Point: St Budeaux Sqaure, Plymouth Devon Finish Point: St Budeaux Square, Plymouth Devon Service Number: 223 Service Type: Hail & Ride Effective Date:

09-AUG-2010 Other Details: Mondays to Fridays only (except public holidays) Every 20 mins.
PH1098325/1 - MICHAEL FAHY T/A ST BEAUDEX TAXI BUS, 80 OCEAN STREET, PLYMOUTH, PL2 2DL Registration Accepted by SN Starting Point: St Budeaux Square, Plymouth Devon Finish Point: St Budeaux Square, Plymouth Devon Service Number: 223 Service Type: Hail & Ride Effective Date: 09-AUG-2010 Other Details: Monday to Fridays only (Except public holidays) every 20 mins.

So it appears that the St Budeaux taxibuses are still operating, just not by Taxifast. I presume its to the same timetable as the old services and I assume its still administered by Target Travel. Certainly the 222/ 223 timetables are still up on the Target web site although bot advertise a ten minute frequency so maybe it has changed, who knows!

In all this confusion we get a nice little news item in This is Plymouth last week:

A PETITION has been handed to Parliament in protest at the scrapping of a taxibus in Plymouth, branding it a disgrace.
More than 250 signatures were presented to the House of Commons urging Government action to halt the withdrawal of the service running from Glenholt to the city centre, which campaigners say is used by residents to go to the doctors, shops, and community facilities.

I am not entirely sure what they mean by this as there was no taxibus service to the City centre!

The loss of the service will cause "major inconvenience" say opponents of the move. Alison Seabeck the MP for Plymouth, Moor View, says the cuts come amid continuing concern over the reduction in bus routes and services offered by Citybus since the Conservative-led council privatised the service last year.

No mention that First have also been cutting services or that services would probably have been cut back by Citybus anyway even if not sold

The petition states people "are unhappy with the decision to withdraw the taxibus service that serves the residents in the north of Plymouth" and notes that people in St Budeaux and Weston Mill use the service "to access their GP surgery, dentist, shops and other community facilities". "I was also shocked to learn of the withdrawal of the taxibus service in the north of the city. I know how much many local people rely on this service to get them to the shops or the doctors.

"People, especially the elderly, fear the isolation caused by the withdrawal of these links. The failure of Taxi Fast to consult local residents or councillors is a disgrace.

There is of course no obligation for them to consult,. If it is losing them money then that are well within their rights to cancel. it is then down to the council to decide if its worth supporting

"I will continue to campaign for a better bus service in Plymouth and oppose local cuts in services. We've already seen that the bus companies will back down if local people make a stand as they did for route 45/A and I commit to working with residents to keep these services running."

The people of Mainstone wont be so happy about that as they loose their Citybus service next month just after First have cut their Sunday service. There is clearly a lot still hanging in the air at the moment about what services will be cut. There will clearly be a lot more angry passengers as they find out their routes get cut. Hopefully there will be decent information available in plenty of time. Citybus and First will have up to date timetables and information available, but will Target / Taxibuses?

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