Do you have anything to say about your bus services because Rhondda Cynon Taf Council wants to know?
The Council’s spends over £1M each year supporting local bus services in Rhondda Cynon Taf and the local bus service contracts are due to finish at the end of March 2012 but, in order to comply with regulations covering the award of new contracts, the Council must start the re-tendering process several months before this date.
One of the first steps that the Council is taking, is to ask local residents for their views and suggestions as to the changes they would like to see made to their local bus services.
In particular, the Council would like to know whether these local bus services are meeting the needs of residents and what improvements can be made; also, where the Council should be prioritising its funding of local bus services. For example, would residents prefer services to be provided in the daytime on a Sunday, instead of during the evening on weekdays?
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Cabinet Member for Transport, Customer Care and Emergency Planning, said:
“The majority of bus services are run by commercial operators although the Council does in some cases intervene where routes are considered socially necessary and works with the bus companies to subsidise those services.
“The information collected from residents will enable the Council to consider any comments and suggestions when putting together routes and timetables for these new contracts.
“We are committed to meeting the needs of residents wherever this is possible in this difficult financial climate. It is vital that residents tell us what they want from their local bus services so the Council can ensure this is reflected in the routes covered by the tendering process.”
Residents can take part in the survey, from Friday 6th May until Friday 3rd June by completing a short questionnaire either on-line, by logging onto the Council’s website www.rctcbc.gov.uk/bussurvey or by picking up a paper copy from any of the Council’s One4aLL Centres and returning it back to the Council in a pre-paid reply envelope that will be provided.
