ONE year ago, July 20, 2016, Oxfordshire County Council ended subsidies to 118 bus routes. And it prematurely boasted that ‘only’ about half of those routes would cease, as operators would try to keep the other half running.

Operators tried cutting costs to break even. Bus Users Oxford wished operators well, but predicted some revised services might not survive.
Alas we were right. In September 2016 Thames Travel ended two routes serving parts of Bicester. Then in December 2016 Heyfordian ended three rural routes east of Oxford, cutting off nine villages.

Now another four routes that OCC used to subsidise are to cease. On July 21, Pulham’s will withdraw route X8 which links Chipping Norton and Churchill with Kingham railway station. One day later Thames Travel will withdraw routes 17, 41 and 114.

Route 17 is in Oxford, linking Jericho with Summertown and central Oxford. Route 41 is in Abingdon, linking Caldecott with the town centre and Fairacres retail park. Route 114 links Berinsfield with Abingdon, and is the only bus serving Culham, Clifton Hampden and Burcot.

Culham Science Centre and the European School are major employers on route 114.

If they want to achieve sustainability goals, we respectfully suggest they consider offering a subsidy to save their local bus.

Ending bus subsidies harms cities and towns, but especially villages. Four of Oxfordshire’s six MPs represent rural constituencies. We have yet to hear any of those four MPs oppose the Treasury austerity that has forced OCC to cut bus subsidies.

HUGH JAEGER
Chairman
Bus Users Oxford