THANKS to the Oxford Mail for continuing to cover the protests by Dean Court residents at the Oxford Bus Company decision to leave us without a bus.

It’s been under a week since the 4C was cancelled and I know that a number of older residents are already struggling without this vital service.

The bus company can tell us all it wants that there are other suitable buses passing within reasonable distance: the reasons this is not the case have been rehearsed on these pages before.

One was brought home to me as my three-year-old stood on the crowded S1 on the way to nursery earlier in the week. I wonder how we’ll cope when the novelty wears off.

The complete lack of consultation and willingness to talk to local residents on the part of the Oxford Bus Company managers has astounded me. They should learn a thing or two from their drivers who were very well liked for their friendliness.

The Oxford Bus Company is cutting essential services which are a lifeline for the elderly and those with young children while its parent group, Go-Ahead, reports a record £78.2m profit, up 11.4 per cent from the previous year.

What I’ve learned from this whole debacle is just how removed our system of public transport is from any sense of social responsibility and accountability to communities or local authorities.

I simply can’t understand why we accept this and why, at a time when we’re all striving to be green and to save money, we continue to have public transport that is so much more about profit than about people.

CATH LITTLE
Pinnocks Way
Oxford