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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)
Your Say YourTelegraph
ononsg, says...
9:22pm Sat 26 Apr 08
Read you post
It makes no sense
on one hand you say that you have noe service, an in the next sentence you say
" The residents of Queens Park are truly thankful for these great services which is door to door""
what exactly are you trying to get across
blondie, says...
4:31pm Sat 26 Apr 08
ononsg wrote:What part don't you understand?
"Count yourself lucky that you have a bus service, ublike the eldery and disabled in Queens Park. You can use community wheels or dial a ride to pick you up, no need for taxis. The residents of Queens Park are truly thankful for these great services which is door to door" Makes absolutley NO SENSE
If you are disabled or you have trouble with mobility then you can use the community wheels it is free and as far as i know so is dial-a-ride. All you have to do is register...not that hard.
This service picks you up from your home and drops you off there too and this applies to all who live within the borough.
If you live in the Queens Park Rd area there is no bus service unless you walk down to Audley and there are a lot of eldery in this area who have been left cut off but thanks to these free services can get to the shops or even the bingo.
ononsg, says...
11:21am Sat 26 Apr 08
You can use community wheels or dial a ride to pick you up, no need for taxis.
The residents of Queens Park are truly thankful for these great services which is door to door"
Makes absolutley NO SENSE
blondie, says...
8:59am Sat 26 Apr 08
You can use community wheels or dial a ride to pick you up, no need for taxis.
The residents of Queens Park are truly thankful for these great services which is door to door.
Why can't these people get on the Number One bus across from the post office and get off at the boulevard to ease the strain?
I see this quite often and not just for the Witton bus.
It is about time the people of Witton accepted that their bus service is not the only one affected and many others have had no choice but to adapt.
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blondie, says...
8:56am Sun 27 Apr 08
They have to rely on other providers, taxis like the Witton passengers if they can afford them, or they can use the community wheels service which is not a local bus service.