A cut in the number of buses serving Dawlish is leaving passengers stranded, according to a local councillor.
Stagecoach says running services like the number 2 through Dawlish is expensive, and it does not get enough money from the government to add any more buses on the route.
Now Newton Abbot’s Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley wants the bus company to address the problems, as well as tackling ‘unfair’ two-tier ticket prices in the town.
Teignbridge councillor Alison Foden (Lib Dem, Dawlish SW) says passengers are being left stranded at bus stops because number 2 services have been reduced.
The route goes from Exeter to Newton Abbot and back, and is one of the longest in the area served by Stagecoach Southwest. Cllr Foden said it was ‘essential’ for people getting from rural and coastal areas to work and leisure activities in the city or Newton Abbot. “Commuters rely on this service to get them to work, yet it has been repeatedly reduced over the past ten years,” she said. “Currently two buses per hour run on this busy route.
“Stagecoach claims passenger numbers have reduced and it would not be cost-effecting to run more buses, yet at peak times commuters are often left stranded at stops when the bus arrives as it is too full to allow any more passengers on, particularly when single deck buses are used.”
Cllr Foden, herself a regular bus user and long-time campaigner for better services, said local people deserved a reliable bus service that was fit for purpose.
“The current number 2 provision is not sufficient to meet demand for a regular, reliable, and efficient bus service, and more buses per hour need to be scheduled if we are to attract people to public transport, and encourage new passengers,” she added.
In addition to the reduced frequency, some Dawlish residents face significantly higher ticket prices than others.
In December the bus company brought in new ticketing zones designed to offer good value for money for people using the bus, but the zones have split Dawlish in two, with some residents in the Greater Exeter ticket zone and others outside. Those outside face paying up to 50 per cent more to get to Exeter.
Mr Wrigley, Cllr Foden and Devon County Council chair Rosie Dawson (Lib Dem, Dawlish) handed a 189-signature petition to Stagecoach, calling for action on the ticket prices.
The MP said: “It seems inherently unfair that residents of Dawlish Town are being subjected to higher ticket prices than if they lived a half a mile out of the town centre. We are now in a situation where it is cheaper for a resident of Dawlish to travel four miles to Teignmouth than to go down the road to Sainsburys.
“When we are trying to encourage people to shop local, reduce their journeys and increase their use of public transport, these ticketing zone changes seem to be a step backwards.”
Stagecoach says the cost of running a bus on the number 2 route is at least £50 per hour, and currently bus companies do not receive a fair amount of funding to compensate for people travelling with senior-person discount cards, nor with the government’s single fare price cap.
A spokesperson said: “The current plan for reduced bus fares during the summer holidays is also not being funded by the government, and the bus companies are expected to absorb these extra costs.
“We appreciate that these reduced fares are helping people during the cost of living crisis, but it places extra pressure on commercial bus companies and bus services like the number 2, that are not subsidised by the local authority.”
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