|
The Western Mail
March 12, 2008, Wednesday
Innovative taxi-bus faces the axe after helping jobless work.
AN award-winning transport service, which could provide a vital economic boost to other parts of Wales, is fighting for survival.
For five years, the Deeside Shuttle has provided a taxi-style bus service to offices and factories on Flintshire's giant Deeside Industrial Park.
Other Welsh counties are considering copying the formula, to cut traffic congestion and give the unemployed easy access to jobs.
But the Welsh Assembly Government has said it will cut the Deeside Shuttle's funding by 20% each year.
The Shuttle and its expensive computerised booking system are part-funded by Welsh taxpayers.
Local authorities in South-West Wales are interested in copycat services centred on employment areas such as Swansea Enterprise Park and the city's SA1 development.
The Cardiff Gate business park - easy to reach by car off the M4 but hard to reach by public transport from the Valleys - is cited as another candidate.
The Deeside Shuttle, which handles more than 3,000 passenger journeys each week, has eased traffic congestion by providing a convenient alternative to the car for commuters. It has also taken many people off unemployment benefits, by offering transport almost as flexible as taxis but at 20% of the taxi fare or less.
Employers were delighted because they could recruit froma bigger labour pool including spouses who had no access to the family car on working days.
The Shuttle had a similar impact three years ago when a sister service - using the same booking system - began at Wrexham Industrial Estate, where 7,000 are employed. A survey of 108 users last year found that 14% were previously unemployed, and 20% would have to give up their jobs if the service ceased.A report for Flintshire councillors lastweek warned that the WAG had indicated funding "would be reduced by 20% per year for the next five years, which would make the continuation of the service very difficult".
The Wrexham Shuttle faces the same financial pressure from next month.
First Cymru has improved its services to Swansea Enterprise Park, but marketing manager Phil Trotter said, "The problem with the enterprise park is that the distance between each building is considerable - not a pleasant walk on a wet day."
A spokesman for Swansea Council said, "We are looking at the possibilities of demand-responsive services like the Deeside Shuttle in the context of community transport and to improve transport to key employment areas such as Swansea Vale, SA1 and the enterprise park."
Passenger watchdog Bus Users UK Cymru said the WAG should take the Deeside Shuttle lessons to other areas.
Senior officer Margaret Everson said, "We would always be keen to see the WAG proactively encouraging the use of integrated public transport, particularly in areas where major development has taken place which can only easily be accessed by car, such as Cardiff Gate.
"Public transport, properly funded and publicised, could take a great deal of private car traffic off the M4. Processes and experience gained from the Deeside Shuttle could be applied elsewhere to enable access to employment and essential services."
A WAG spokeswoman said no decision had yet been made on allocation of bus subsidies for 2008-09.
From door to door...
All 10,000 employees at Deeside Industrial Park are eligible to register as Deeside Shuttle users.
A day or more before travel, they use the internet or phone to enter their shift times on the computerised booking system.
The Shuttle bus duly arrives outside their front door and takes them to their workplace, where it will pick them up at the end of the shift and take them home.
Workers living outside the Shuttle's catchment area can book it from a rail station or regular bus stop within that area.
For the five miles from Flint to Deeside Industrial Park, the Shuttle fare is pounds 1.80 each way, or pounds 9 for a weekly ticket. A taxi would cost pounds 9 each way.
__________________________
|
Login
Register
FAQ
