WITH reference to the proposed Leigh - Manchester guided busway, this a poor option for several reasons.

1. The only people to benefit will be those who live near a bus stop on the route. Others not on the route eg. the whole of Astley, will have to take a bus to the route. Short bus journeys are expensive. Even if through tickets are issued we will still have to take two buses. This means we are twice as likely to be let down by a late bus or no bus at all. Connecting buses will be a joke.

2. The new bus services will be privatised. From past and present experiences this means limited, expensive, unreliable services, and a subsidy paid by us through our tax.

3. Cars are more convenient. No walking with heavy bags in the rain or cold to distant bus stops and waiting in hope for a bus. Cars are a cheaper means of travel compared with buses and becoming increasingly cheaper each year. People are accustomed to sitting in comfort in traffic.

4. Other bus services will suffer to accommodate the new services.

The only way to get people to use buses is to have regular (every 15 minutes) cheap bus services, covering all areas every day and evening - funny! This used to be the vase when I was a youngster.

Alan Simms

St Ambrose Road

Astley

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.