Bad News On The Buses

Will · Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 7 Location: South Wight

The Council are cutting funding to the bus company from 76% to 48% for it's free and subsidised passengers. The bus company say 'that as a result they will have to make cuts to their less profitable services'. These are more often the ones that affect the more rural areas. Both the council and the bus company blame the government for imposing the subsidised fares but not providing the money.
The new timetable came out on the 20th April. Service 3, in common with all other routes currently operating all-night buses, will lose its all-night service except on Fridays and Saturdays when it will retain an hourly service until about 5 am. There are some other slight retimings but people should be aware that the last journey from Newport to Ventnor will leave Newport at 11:35 pm, continuing to Shanklin and Ryde at midnight.
Service 6 will no longer run through to St Lawrence but buses in both directions between Ventnor and Newport will run via Ventnor Botanic Gardens. There will no longer be any Sunday service at all between the Botanic Gardens and St Lawrence until WightBus start running their service 16 on July 27th but this will be withdrawn again after August 31st.
If you would like to see the return of a Sunday service year round, you should contact your local County Councillor.
Some goods news is that the Island Coaster service will continue running throughout the summer until November 2nd. this leaves Albert Street, Ventnor, at 10:45 am and 11:15 am each day and runs to Blackgang Chine, then along the Military Road to Freshwater Bay and Alum Bay. Buses return from Alum Bay at 4:30pm and 5 pm.