Enhancing rural bus services

Press release - 16 August 2007

Shropshire County Council will be visiting various parts of the county later this month to consult with local people about possible enhancements to rural bus services.

The 2007 Shropshire Bus road show will be visiting 16 towns around the county between 20 August and 13 September, so that people can have their say on the council’s new proposals.

The proposed changes could see the implementation of brand new, smaller sized, low floor, easily accessible vehicles, flexible routes serving all rural communities, guaranteed connections with other transport services and a dedicated booking service for enquiries and journey requests.

The main aim of the new strategy is to improve accessibility to key services and facilities, reduce environmental impact, achieve better integration with main bus services and trains and provide communities with a greater choice of days on which they can travel.

The road show will visit the following towns between 10am and 2pm:

• Bishop’s Castle - 20 August, Livestock Market.
• Bridgnorth - 21 August, Innage Lane car park.
• Market Drayton - 22 August, Queen Street car park.
• Cleobury Mortimer - 23 August, Old Market Hall.
• Shrewsbury – 24 August, The Square.
• Shifnal - 28 August, The Square.
• Whitchurch - 29 August, Tesco car park.
• Church Stretton - 30 August, Lion Meadows.
• Ludlow - 31 August, Market Square.
• Craven Arms - 3 September, Harry Tuffins.
• Shrewsbury – 4 September, The Square.
• Wem - 5 September, Co-op car park.
• Oswestry - 6 September, Oswald Road, opposite the Bus Station.
• Ellesmere - 7 September, Cross Street car park.
• Clun – 10 September, Riverside car park.
• Much Wenlock – 13 September, town centre.

John Everall, Shropshire County Council’s Cabinet member for environment and sustainability, said: “We would like people to come along and have their say on these exciting new proposals. By visiting a number of rural towns we hope to get lots of quality feedback to help shape and define a rural transport service to suit local people’s needs.”

If agreed, these proposals will be put in place in late Spring 2008.

Ends

For media contact, call Laura Owen, Communications Officer, Economy & Environment on (01743) 253318.