Buses are letting down the old folk
11:12am Friday 25th April 2008
I WOULD like to draw attention to the plight of the elderly and disabled (of which there are quite a few) passengers of the Wensley Fold and Witton buses in Blackburn.
Over a year ago the starting point for these two routes was on Ainsworth Street, very handy for the post office, market and and mall.
But because of the repositioning of a taxi rank the powers that be decided to move it as far away from the shops and market as possible on the far side of the Boulevard.
It is pitiful to see elderly folk struggling with what, to them, are heavy shopping bags, having to start their journey from the shops 15 minutes before the bus is due.
It is getting so bad now that quite a few of them are using the taxis that have replaced their old bus and at an average of £3 a trip this is an expense they could well do without.
As one old lady remarked, what's the point of giving the elderly bus passes then forcing them to take taxis?
Transdev and Blackburn with Darwen Council have been asked on many occasions, even to the extreme of receiving a petition, to explain the position, but they both use the same reply: "it's only temporary".
B sadly some of these old folks have passed away in the last 12 months. It certainly wasn't temporary for those people.
JOHN SMITH (via email)