Parents living in the Ross-on-Wye area are concerned about the poor quality of bus services that transport students to colleges in Hereford.
Parents have complained about overcrowding and students being left behind due to buses reaching capacity. Something that parents say shouldn’t be happening after they’ve forked out £837 for a bus pass!
A group called ‘Parents & Pupils of Ross areas: Campaign for safe & reliable College buses‘ has been set up, so far with 24 members and parents have been busy contacting local and national media, as well as Stagecoach and Herefordshire Council.
One of the parents told Your Herefordshire:
“Many of our young people recently started new terms at the various colleges in Hereford and as would be expected, parents made arrangements for travel via the bus services offered by the council in conjunction with local bus companies.
“Many purchased the council’s bus pass which is offered for college students at a cost of £837, while others purchased weekly or monthly travel passes from the current service provider (Stagecoach), so for the main part, numbers travelling were known beforehand with a little allowance to be made for any additional travellers purchasing tickets on the day.
“However, so far students travelling have encountered various problems due to inadequate provision by both Stagecoach and the Council who have a duty to provide appropriate and safe travel for 16-19 year olds to access Further Education.
“The main bus route between Ross and Hereford offered for the college pupils is the 33, which on most mornings has been dangerously over-crowded with passengers sitting on laps, sitting on the stairs, standing on both lower and upper decks and standing all the way up to the driver. I am sure you are aware that this is actually illegal as well as extremely dangerous.
“Alongside the over-crowding, many pupils have then been left behind at bus stops and left with no alternative transport to college (the next bus is 1 hour later)
“Many parents have made efforts to complain to both the council and Stagecoach but concerns over safety, the stress and disruption to young people and their education as well as the fact parents have already paid for this “service” are being brushed aside.
“In fact, the council’s solution seems to be that numbers will drop off over the next few weeks which will resolve the issues! It would seem obvious that numbers would drop off if the service provided proved dangerous, inadequate and unreliable but this means that pupils have to find alternatives to travel or in some cases drop out of college altogether.
“This hardly fulfils Herefordshire’s efforts to be a greener, environmentally friendly county nor does it help the young people of Hereford to continue to access education and improve their future life opportunities. I am also aware that although Stagecoach may currently have issues with numbers of drivers, there are other local bus companies who are willing and able to provide extra buses to cover the shortfall of seats.
“Several parents and pupils are now members of a Facebook Campaign group with an aim to work together to create the urgent change needed to the travel provision, not only for this year but for future college years.”
