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Bus chief says parking rises not enough
10:16am Friday 30th November 2007
Steve Burns, director of Carousel buses, believes more needs to be done to help public transport beat the traffic before people will consider using it.
He said: "The problem is there are no bus priority measures, the buses sit in the same traffic as cars. If people are sitting in their cars for an hour to get to work and a bus does it in 15 minutes then we would have an excellent public transport system in Wycombe."
When Eden opens developer Multiplex and the district council hope to attract shoppers from Marlow, Amersham, Chesham and further afield into High Wycombe.
The 675,000 square foot shopping centre will push the town into the top 50 shopping destinations in the UK and attract an extra 200,000 people to the town a week.
In a bid to accommodate all the extra traffic, an extra 1,600 parking spaces are being built.
But Wycombe District Council has decided to push up parking rates in Princes Risborough, Bourne End, Marlow and High Wycombe to try and encourage more people onto buses and other forms of public transport.
While some car parking prices will be shooting up by nearly 100 per cent, in other areas the increase will be much smaller such as 20 pence an hour.
Mr Burns, who has run Carousel in the town for seven years, said: "Twenty pence isn't going to make anybody get out of the car and onto the bus."
He added putting the parking prices up was like trying to "force" people on to buses and it would not work. "We would rather our passengers travel with us because they chose to because they felt it was a better means of transport," he said.
Brian Drury, commercial director for Arriva, said, "We made a number of service changes in September which looked towards the opening of Eden and we are talking to Buckinghamshire County Council and the shopping centre to discuss what further service enhancements may be introduced in partnership with them."
Your Say YourBucks
David St, High Wycombe says...
10:32am Fri 30 Nov 07
SL, Bucks says...
10:34am Fri 30 Nov 07
Read All About It, HW says...
10:42am Fri 30 Nov 07
Nathan Sullivan, says...
11:10am Fri 30 Nov 07
Plus buses are usually driven by social misfits with a grudge against society who make evry journey as unpleasant as possible.
Also, some buses I have been on have a faint smell of wee about them, whichb naturally puts you off somewhat.
tom, marlow says...
11:10am Fri 30 Nov 07
He said: "The problem is there are no bus priority measures, the buses sit in the same traffic as cars. If people are sitting in their cars for an hour to get to work and a bus does it in 15 minutes then we would have an excellent public transport system in Wycombe."
I think he makes a valid point. However...
Whacking up parking prices in itself is not going to get people out of their cars. Its just going to p**s them off and ultimately they will just drive somewhere else.
And, as I've said before, I dont see how increasing parking charges in Marlow, Risborough etc is going to have any affect on the congestion in Wycombe.
If you are going to get people out of their cars you need a public transport system that is frequent, cheap, reliable, clean, safe etc etc.
You are not going to acheive that without a strategy that involves everyone - The people responsible for the roads, the transport operators, the people who use it all have to buy into it.
And their will still be people who wont use it whatever you do :-)
erm, ermsville says...
11:11am Fri 30 Nov 07
if only....
Running Man, HW says...
11:12am Fri 30 Nov 07
If you try and pump it full of steroids to become Superhero Reading the first thing that will give out are the arteries!
Take a stroll down Lily's Walk and you will see buildings of the scale of The Roman Colliseum nearing completion.
At no point in the Eden planning process did BCC Highways choose to step in and point out the hopelessness of this project.(They did the same recently on the 500 home Marsh dev). The system of democracy in this country allows those in positions of responsibility to cash out as wealthy men if something goes pear shaped on their watch. Until we make these people truly accountable in law for their thoughts and actions we will continue paying through the nose for a system that quite simply does not work.
erm, ermsville says...
11:13am Fri 30 Nov 07
does Steve Burns take the bus to work? BFP, please go ask him for us :)
Running Man, HW says...
11:37am Fri 30 Nov 07
BCC Highways green-lighted Eden as part of the planning process. If you try and get your hands on the comprehensive analysis that BCC Highways undertook to examine the impact of Eden you will hit a brick wall, as no such document exists or such analysis took place!
This is a matter for criminal investigation involving dereliction of duty of the most serious kind.
Is it true that WDC offered BCC a tasty cut of the huge inward investment in Wycombe by external companies?
BFP, stop pretending to be the peoples' friend ,and nail these criminals to the cross!
Stephen, High Wycombe says...
11:44am Fri 30 Nov 07
Read All About It, HW says...
12:28pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Also, some buses I have been on have a faint smell of wee about them, whichb naturally puts you off somewhat.
Nathan - Its probably you that smells of wee. You are putting people off !!
Nathan Sullivan, says...
12:44pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Are you by any chance that guy on the bus with the 'special' smile who sits unnervingly close to lady passengers?
Read All About It, HW says...
12:48pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Nathan Sullivan, says...
12:53pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Read All About It, HW says...
12:59pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Nathan Sullivan, says...
1:04pm Fri 30 Nov 07
erm, ermsville says...
1:09pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Nathan Sullivan, says...
2:09pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Right, I am going to do something which I do not find easy. I am going to swallw my pride and admit that i was wrong. I still stand by my initial remarks, however, I shoudl have been more considered in my phrasing and I should not have bitten so readily when I saw the responses to my first posts. I also wish to apologise for my ill considered remarks. I would lie to reiterate that I did not wish to cause offence to anyone, hence my surprise at the initial replies I received. In future I will endeavour to think before I committ my words to paper.
You have me at a distinct disadvantage, insofar as I do not know whom I am adressing. I will be happy to apologise to you in person if you wish to disclose who you are. If not then I would like to see a close to this whole regrettable incident. And I would like to say that this is not an attempt to prevent you from telling my nan, I confessed, if you will, to her at lunch time and she is indeed disappointed in me. She knows that I can be pig headed sometimes. They say that pride comes before a fall and it certainly has in this instance. It is not the first time that my pride has got me into trouble and it probably won't be the last, but I shall try and learn from this. I look forward to your response.
Mani, High Wycombe says...
2:11pm Fri 30 Nov 07
..
Read All About It, HW says...
2:35pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Steve, Totteridge Hill says...
4:05pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Read All About It wrote:Even if he smells of wee?
Nathan - Again I would like to confess I only did this because I'm in love with you - will you marry me ?
Read All About It, HW says...
4:08pm Fri 30 Nov 07
George - Wycombe, says...
4:36pm Fri 30 Nov 07
There was over reporting of the man on the roof handed a council house in two days who got their full sympathy but our rage on the outcome ignored.
There is the BFP's apparent backing of the NIMBY's opposing the football pitches at Widmer Fields but no support for the young who could benefit, this keeps coming up diluting OUR comments.
I have already commented on another thread about the parking issue, is it really necessary for us to continually have to repeat our postings because the originals are buried due to the poor reporting methods of our local press.
By the way, where did the lorry tumble down the hill as reported this week? the BFP report didn't say.
We know know why it is the local RAG.
George - Wycombe, says...
4:39pm Fri 30 Nov 07
Steve, Totteridge Hill says...
11:40pm Fri 30 Nov 07
I've checked my typing and sometime letters don't get picked up... Ok I make smelling pisstakes but it's not always fat finger trouble!
As for Steve Burns, director of Carousel buses would he say hot air baloons are the best way to travel if they got free parking? I think not...this is just another free advert from the BFP to make us all rush to be green.
Shame is you should live here on the hill as buses go past every 10 minutes with so few peeps on them (when they don't breakdown) churning out a smog behind them because they are so old and clapped out!
I wonder if Mr Steve Burns, director of Carousel buses goes to work by car or bus?
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Read All About It, HW says...
10:31am Fri 30 Nov 07