We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with readers. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch. This letter from Ventnor resident, Richard Downing. Ed
Unknown to those who only travel by car, there is a bus community which has its own identity.
Public transport is somewhat similar to a public house (pub) where people meet and sometimes talk. This can start at the bus stop where neighbours stand and wait. Salutations, talk of the weather “Where are you off to today?”. We are stakeholders in the Southern Vectis offer and sometimes discuss it. Generally it comes out good: service is frequent (in most places) drivers are great (in most cases) and buses are punctual (most of the time).
The benefits of bus travel
The connoisseur of bus travel will be there to enjoy the aesthetic experience of a splendid moving landscape. The top deck provides a distant view over hedges, walls and fences that is not available to the motorist who has to concentrate on the road. The bus driver will do that work, allowing us to relax and enjoy in comfort: air conditioning, heating, CCTV.
Other benefits include not having to find a parking space or pay for it. Walkers can start from one bus stop and board again at another. Then there are the environmental benefits derived from having one vehicle carrying so many people.
Benefits to tourists
Tourists might be attracted by these fare offers: £24 for seven days travel or £48 for a group of up to five people. That amount can be saved just by avoiding the cost of a car on the ferry. At this time of year we share the bus with large numbers of foreign tourists who do not want to rent a car or drive on the wrong side of the road.
Visit Isle of Wight do suggest the Car free-Care free holiday, but it’s tucked away behind Plan Your Visit.
Class snobbery?
Of course there is an element of class snobbery about bus travel: some will assume that only the ‘common people’ use buses and they do not wish to mix with them. In the USA buses have been called ‘loser-cruisers’, meaning that only those who have failed would need to use them. Some people can’t bear to wait for a bus and believe that, as long as they are moving in a car, they are making progress.
A large number of passengers are aged 60+ and enjoy the benefits of free travel. Buses would not suit someone working who needs to be in several places on the same day. Time management is important: time is money.
An unknown world to many
So what is the point of this letter? Partly to draw attention to the benefits of bus travel and partly to raise awareness that there are lots of people who use them.
It is an unknown world to so many who work in Island organisations and businesses because they only travel by car. But it needs to be in their minds when they think about what people do here and how they get around to do it.
Some pretty amazing things can happen art bus stops too. Ed
Image: The Emperor Penguin under CC BY 2.0
