Squabble sees politicians get bent out of shape over buses

“Dr Rogers replied: "To be honest Mr Abraham is grasping at straws.

"We are in the middle of election and everyone is making statements of one kind or another.

"This was a statement issued by me about the bendy bus and I cannot see what the problem is.
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No Cllr Rogers, Peter Abrahams has a point here and your ethics, not for the first time, look dubious. Its not just a Mayoral election candidate making statements, its you and you are both a candidate AND Deputy Leader of the Council. Thats the problem. This issue would not have arisen if you had kept clear of any announcement or if the timing had been different.”

“Patcrose,
I think the confusion, if there is confusion, comes from the pictures put out by the West of England Partnership and TravelWest on their websites. The picture on the latter still shows a bendy bus - see http://tinyurl.com/cwjlyd7 . One assumes that had they put a picture of a rigid single decker bus in the glossy "consultation" material, all of Bristol would have said it was rubbish, instead of just 95%.

Having Tim Kent's hand up his back and moving his mouth is hardly what Dr Jon needs to attract enough votes to get his deposit back. It is becoming more obvious too that the LEP have tried to take us for a ride (pun intended) by using misleading images of vehicles when in fact they have no idea of either the routes the buses will follow, nor who will operate them, nor what sort of vehicle, nor whether anyone will use them. Even Cambridge BRT had these things in place before the scheme was approved, although the final cost and two-year-plus delays have left a great uncertainty about finances.

Peter Abraham may be clutching at straws, although I doubt it. His idea of referring the matter to an independent auditor is perfectly sound, may preserve some goodwill with the government, and maybe even money for a proper scheme when the auditor exposes the whole thing as a flight of fancy by our council cabinet. Dr Jon, it turns out, is a man of straw. The bus may be straight, or it may be bendy, but the scheme itself is warped. Especially so is the stupid £50 million BRT2 route, but really, it is time to stop feeding this white elephant, before we throw any more good money after bad.

So get the rail improvements that we know are coming done first - Portishead, with Ashton Gate, plus four-tracking to Filton, and a combined smart ticket so people can mix and match. Then see what everybody does, and whether improvements to bus routes and services will help. Builders of new housing developments don't put footpaths in early - they wait to see where people walk, then make them. Ripping the rail line up from Ashton Vale to the centre is absolutely mad - it will ruin the Harbour Railway Not only that, the 2015 tram-train trial in Yorkshire may well show us a much better use. Leave it alone!

This mad scheme will hopefully see off Dr Jon and his lackeys, although the Lib Dem powerbase in the nice bits of Bristol won't be affected at all by BRT. To use his pet phrase for starting sentences, as a GP, he will know where to go for counselling.”

“For God's sake, stop pouring money into this insane scheme NOW!

Refurbish the rail link between the City Centre and the Portishead line and reopen the latter ASAP.”

“We are in the middle of a political campaign and we are all making bull **** statements of one kind or another."


What with Marv banging on about the commonwealth games (***) and Doc pulling this stunt.......


Seriously, the longer this campaign goes on the more ludicrous their "promises"...”

“What a desperate little man that Rogers fella is. S0 desperate in fact that he'll say whatever he thinks the populace would like to hear. Sorry old chap that won't bring you votes. Wonder what the leader of his local party thinks of all this. Come to think of it the leader of the council has been publicly silent for months. The perception I get is that he's given up the ghost knowing he won't be Council Leader after next week. He'll also lose his special responsibility allowance. If I'm wrong Mr Cooke or his spokesman (sorry person - mustn't offend the PC lot in the Libs) Gerry will be on this site to put me right. Over to you Si and Ger. By the way that Rogers fella won't be getting my vote.”

“There never was an agreement to use Bendy Buses .It was a name dreamed up by the Post.North Somerset will run its ordinary buses from Clevedon and Weston on this route,and possibly buses from Portishead and Bristol Airport too.”

“So Lib Dem thinking for BRT is to run ordinary buses down bus lanes.

Hasn't that been tried before *cough* GBBN *cough*?

Is that what we're getting for £130million? I'm not overly keen on the bendy buses, but the high quality vehicles in the pic above might entice a few more commuters on board. And they would look better and befit Bristol's alleged status as a 'Major European City'. © Bristol City Council.

The poverty of imagination displayed by our political representatives when it comes to transport solutions never, ever ceases to amaze me...”

“'To be honest', it doesn't matter a monkey's peanut whether they're bendy buses, straight buses, or flying carpets while the prices remain so high. In London they're currently up in arms that the bus fare (with Oyster) is about to increase to £1.50. Laughable in comparion to First Bus prices. £2.70 for five stops, and about a mile, the other day.

And I often wondered why the Park and Ride buses were so empty. I Iooked into using one, for the three of us, only to find it would cost us £12! I had naively thought they'd charge by car, not person.”

“Never trust anyone who uses the phrase, ". . . to be honest . . ."!


Are there any other mayorial candidates that intend to have Tim Kent and/or Gary Hopkins in their 'dream team' apart from Jon Rogers?”