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Bus operator will ‘look again’ at controversial route change through Thame

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Sonja Francis

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FOLLOWING a public meeting to discuss problems caused by the re-routing of the 280/X8 but along Park Street, Thame, the bus company Arriva, has said that it will look at the route again.

At the meeting, which was attended by between 30-40 people, including town Cllrs Lambert, Dyer and Stiles, a representative from Oxfordshire County Council apologised for not consulting with the public before changing the route. The Arriva reprentatives said they would treat the new route as an experiment and re-evaluate it and would come back to the residents and the council.

Ever since the new route became operational a week ago, residents of Park Street have been reporting grid-locked traffic, particularly when bin lorries are operating in the street, and particularly when two buses meet each other coming from separate directions.

Two 280 buses meet in Park Street. Thame. Image courtesy of Poppy Gunn

Cllr Mary Stiles, who is the Chair of the town council’s Transport Working Group, told members of the town council’s Neighbourhood Continuity Committee (NPCC) that she felt Arriva were listening and that there would be a positive outcome. She concluded: “Watch this space!”

It was pointed out at the NPCC meeting that the implementation of the new route had diverted some of the section 106 monies and provided some of the service that a hopper bus might provide. So, the council will now consider its next steps regarding providing of a hopper bus service,and has meeting arranged for November 17, 2017.

There is now a Park Street and Chinnor Road 280 bus group on Facebook for those who would like to follow progress this topic and share experiences and comment: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1893528164298533/

Comments

2 responses to “Bus operator will ‘look again’ at controversial route change through Thame”

  1. Geoffrey Emerson avatar
    Geoffrey Emerson

    Towards the end of the meeting at the Cross Keys the bus company committed themselves to doing a risk assessment of the route! Surely it is very basic good practice to do a risk assessment before you embark upon a new bus route which involves public safety.

  2. Catinthehat avatar
    Catinthehat

    I was on one of the buses last Wednesday which Giles Asbury was filiming and saw him filiming the chaos from his doorstep. Basically the 2 buses got stuck becasue the road was not wide enough becasue people naturally park their own cars outside their own homes, our bus had to reverse back to The Cross Keys because another car has got stuck, I have never seen anything so comical if not sad. The traffic then built up behind the bus and there were alot of very angry drivers and passengers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people walking or cycling to the Town Hall to catch the bus to Aylesbury. Who on earth got the idea to reroute the bus down Park Street and why?

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