“I've got a 10 Foot Boat and think it would be a good idea to go to work down the Feeder Canal in the morning instead of waiting for the 36 Bus that is either late or simply does not arrive.

If Bristol City Council wants to invest in transport, or indeed save money, why not look at the obvious and extend the ferry service up the River Avon?”

“Never mind, we'll have the Museum of Bristol - eventually.

Of course, we won't be able to afford the fare to get there, but there thee bist, then kid...

The Hedgehog”

“(null)”

“Paul / James, worth noting that the £4.7 million this article claims is spent on bus services does not go directly to First. First is one of several companies who provide bus services under contract to the Council. Wessex Connect are also in this group and run more fully tendered services than First do (most of First's service's are commercial, apart from a few early morning / late evening journeys and some on Sundays & bank holidays). I suggest you re-read the story about tendered bus services (from last week) if you have an interest in this area, at least then you'll have a better understanding of who does what. The chart produced by the Evening Post to run alongside the original story was actually very helpful, showing which services are tendered and who operates them.”

“and yet they can't run profitable routes by law - James, Bristol

Sorry James. Only just seen this bit of your comment. Do you know which law this is and why Bristols fares seem to be so much more expensive than virtually any other major UK city, if other councils also can't?”

“£4,700,000 is given to First to run that thing that is called a 'bus service'!

Is anyone else not completely blown away by that?

Let¿s say a double decker bus costs £150,000. Would this £4.7million not be better spent buying 30 or so double decker buses, running them on the main routes in and around Bristol costing £1 per journey as far as you want? Would anyone use Firsts shoddy service then?

And, any profits are put straight back into buying new buses, expanding the services that are run etc... rather than just lining Firsts (and sometimes I think a few influential people at BCC) pockets.

Gary Hopkins... what do you say? (Odds on, there is no response by the great man by the end of the day).”

“So the council spends £4.7 million on subsidising buses, and yet they can't run profitable routes by law. If they do First can sue them and would win. If the council could they would be able to use the profits to subsidise the loss making routes as a public service, and taxpayers would pay less.
As it is First run them in the interest of themselves alone. Yay for the bus de-regulation that happened in 1986 that should have been overturned years ago.
Only central government can change the law on that. Something to think about when criticising the council about buses.”

“@Paul Smith
What evidence do you have that they're seeking to push up the costs? Is this based on the opinions of "world transport expert" David Redgwell?

@Jane
No, not the end of the tendering process - if First aren't interested, the Council have the powers to award the subsidy to someone else, don't they?”

“So the truth is out at last, despite their election pledge to reduce fares the Lib Dems on the council are seeking to push up the cost of using public transport.”

“I agree with the previous comment I traveled to Severn Beach from Clifton on a busy Saturday. I had a return ticket which I was not asked to produce. The female staff member did not leave her seat as several passengers got on and off , she was more interested in chatting to a couple who she was connected to.
I would guess this is quite a common thing.I was so angry that I contacted Great Western by phone but I am not sure that it did any good.
What a shame if this service is lost due to lazy staff.”