The news of the demise of the Free bus service in Leeds will make it easier for the axe to fall in Bradford. Here's why we shouldn't let that happen:
1) Bradford city centre is not flat like Leeds, in fact, its bloody hilly! That is why so many pensioners use the service to get around.
2) Leeds doesn't have a problem attracting people into its centre - Bradford does. The free bus encourages people to shop within the city, making it easy to pop between the markets and the interchange. Without the extra customers the bus provides, many of the smaller market holders would find it harder to remain open during this recession.
3) After the safety problems in Bradford last year, the free bus is vital in allowing many students, especially overseas ones and female students, to travel safely round the city. Unlike in Leeds, the college and uni contribute financially to the bus.
4) Bradford has a high number of people on low incomes who are reliant on the service - Asylum seekers on vouchers who don't get cash for things like buses, pensioners, those with mobility issues, students. Cuts should not penalise the weakest members of our community.
Join the excellent campaign initiated by the college student union - and lobby your councillor today. The final decision about the service will be announced on the 18th Feb, and ratified at the full council meeting on the 24th Feb. Be there to hold them to account!
The problem with all "Free" services is that somebody has to pay for them!
ReplyDeleteJust how did people manage before Sept 2008 when this "free" service was introduced? It doesn't seem to take long for a privilege to become an entitlement.
It's not an entitlement, just an effective way to encourage and enable people to shop within the city centre. Its not 'free' in the sense that it is paid for by the tax payers in the city, and by the fee payers in the college and Uni who (which pays towards the bus)
ReplyDeleteThe Free bus is a sensible use of the money we give to the state to build a better society.