Sir – Oxford has one of the best bus services in the country. We have bucked the national trend of a decline in bus use since deregulation and have the least polluting buses in the country by a long way.
It is thus rather surprising to see that the Conservatives on the county council want to make bus travel in the city less convenient and less attractive to residents and visitors alike.
Roadworks over the last few years have meant that neither major bus company could keep running through services between North and East Oxford, to the great disadvantage particularly of elderly and less mobile would-be passengers.
We had hoped that once the latest phase of road works was over, a through service would be restored. Residents from Summertown petitioned the county council about this in July and it is a constant complaint whenever bus services are discussed.
But the Conservatives’ Transform Oxford plans will make the walk across the city centre even longer.
It will be even more difficult to reach the railway station from the north by bus. At present, taxis can use Magdalen Street and George Street to take the less mobile to the station. But if that route is closed, even more traffic, including buses and taxis, will be trying to use the Worcester Street bottleneck.
Keith Mitchell has promised there would be consultation, but has also announced that ‘it will happen’. I hope he is prepared to listen this time, despite the apparent determination to impose his ideas on Oxford. Past experience makes me less sanguine about that. I hope he will prove me wrong.
Jean Fooks, Liberal Democrat councillor for Summertown and Wolvercote
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