News
Axe to fall on Night Taxibuzzes on 28th May
20 May 2010
Kennet Passengers' short notice petition which had raised 202 signatures within a period of a week was presented to Full Council last Tuesday. Petitioners were shocked that their efforts to discuss options to save the service were not listened to and turned down by the Council. Petitioners were aggrieved that there had not been a proper debate in response and that the decision was predetermined. There had not been any consultation with users despite the devastating impact on people's livelihoods, access to services and social lives. This is contrary to practice recommended by Wiltshire Council.
The £10, £15 or £20 taxi fares will not be an option for many users, some of whom will have to renegotiate their employment arrangements. People wondered about Wiltshire's vision for their villages. Was it one where only people with a car should live in the villages?
The service is new and actively growing. There is a realistic prospect of reaching Wiltshire's criteria for an affordable subsidy in the short term so long as the services are marketed properly.
Newly elected Devizes MP, Claire Perry, has shown a keen interest in supporting taxibuses and is interested in learning from this service. Kennet Passengers are in discussion with her.
Kennet Passengers' statement here. Gazette and Herald article here.
Full Council will hear bus petition: "Efficiency savings do not = Bus cuts!"
10th May 2010
Full Council to be held on Tuesday 18th May 11am at County Hall, Trowbridge (also the council's annual meeting) will hear our short notice petition. Meeting papers here. It serves no useful purpose to rush into a decision to withdraw a service on 28th May that is actively growing.
If you are a supporter of public transport, a user of the Night TaxiBuzz or live in the Pewsey Vale this is an ideal opportunity to ask Full Council for the decision to be delayed whilst further options are considered and to tell the Council that the situation is currently out of step with the public and Government. There is a new Conservative candidate elected to a new Conservativ led coalition that is supportive of rural transport but that a Conservative Council wishes to cut a bus service that is of special interest to trial further by a new government.
The text of the petition is as follows:
WE THE UNDERSIGNED do not accept that Wiltshire Council's arbitrary axing of the Devizes Night TaxiBuzz on 28 May 2010. The cut is unnecessary, the service should be SAVED and:
We agree that the Devizes Night TaxiBuzz is essential for 20 villages in the Pewsey Vale
We want to see this service continue to and from Pewsey station where it is reducing parking congestion and has the greatest potential to increase bus usage by car drivers
We believe that £25,000 (i.e. 50% of the costs) has been WASTED during the first two years of the TaxiBuzz contract
We want to see all overheads reviewed BEFORE axing our front line service
We want Wiltshire Council to accept Devizes Taxis' offer to save 50% of the contract price
We believe that effective advertising of the service would increase usage and reduce costs
We support the Kennet Passengers' report which shows how savings can be made WITHOUT removing the service
We want Wiltshire Council to undertake a 6 months moratorium to consider better options AND bring better value to Wiltshire.
THIS MEANS:
We want more business sense from local government transport experts
We believe Wiltshire should show that the new bigger unitary authority is more efficient and is more in touch with the local people they serve by listening to the community.
NEW REPORT SHOWS THE WAY TO MAKE RURAL BUSES MORE VIABLE
10 May 2010
As local authorities struggle to make savings without cutting front line services Villages and Beyond is an important and timely rural public tranport case study . The subject of the report is the flexible service Connect2Wiltshire which operates in the Pewsey Vale, successor to Wiltshire's Wigglybus. The report shows how rural buses whose prospects are fragile can be made more viable. Fine grain analysis building on focused survey work previously carried out have brought about a suite of options. The most promising could be, for instance, a combination of free ranging taxibuses and straightened out circular routes. So long as overheads are rigorously reviewed, the community brought into the heart of the scheme and services properly marketed in partnership with the operator these options should be tested. Guiding principles to Wiltshire Council are explained in Chapter 8.
Villages and Beyond: A case study of Connect2Wiltshire
by Alan James, Wayconsult Associates
Commissioned on behalf of Wiltshire Council
Published by Association of Kennet Passengers, April 2010
Click on image for full report. Executive summary here.
Can you help Kennet Passengers?
30 April 2010
We are appealing for more help. The friendly steering committee has vacancies for 4 more members (next meeting on Wednesday, 19th May at 7.30pm). We are also seeking helpers for special events. If you can help in any way please let us know here. ...and, pass the word around. Thanks very much!
We came, they came, we protested, and then...?
27 April 2010
Yesterday over 50 people supported our demonstration on Bus Island. People from the 20 villages affected joined in. Passengers with special needs joined in. Passengers who have to get home from work joined in. Passengers that use Pewsey station joined in. People in Devizes who have to put up with traffic from the villages joined in. 4 constituency candidates (Conservative, Green, Labour and LibDem) joined in. Thanks very much to all who came.
Did Wiltshire Council listen? Did they hear our message: do not cut buses, cut the overheads?
We are calling for a 6 month moratorium on the decision to give the Council time to consider other options with us. Will they do this?
HELP! Signatures are being collected to petition the council. Deadline 7 MAY 2010. You can download a copy here.
Or write a letter. Fact sheet here. Addresses to write to here.
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Find Kennet Passengers on facebook
21 April 2010
Join us on facebook: see photo albums, chat, send us a message, tell us what you think.
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Whaaat!! No Night TaxiBuzz?
16 April 2010
Wiltshire's decision to withdraw the Night TaxiBuzz which links 20 villages to Devizes and Pewsey station has angered many users of the service. The service is used by commuters returning from work, disabled people, students coming home after college and those who want to get out and about in the evening without a car.
Kennet Passengers have made representations to Wiltshire Council and shown how savings could be made without cutting the front line service. Wiltshire Council do not appear to have listened to our ideas on how to save money or Devizes Taxis, the operator, who have offered a 50% reduction in contract costs thereby saving £25,000.
Frustration has driven Kennet Passengers to call a protest on Bus Island in the Market Place in Devizes on MONDAY, 26 April at 6pm.
We are asking Wiltshire Council to continue the service for six months so that better ways of cutting costs can be looked at.
Fact sheet here. Addresses to write to here.
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In the dry at last!
February 2010
Connect2Wiltshire passengers have a more spacious bus shelter thanks to sterling work by Dorothy Robertson of Kennet Passengers and Simon Fisher of Devizes Town Council.
Kennet Passengers looks forward to a map of the routes, timetable information and easy to understand instructions on how to use the service.
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Passengers still have to wait patiently in all weathers
January 2010
Nearly a year has lapsed and passengers still have to wait in all weathers for the Connect2Wiltshire buses. A strong gust of wind damaged the bus shelter by Devizes cinema a year ago. Kennet Passengers asked Devizes Town Council (who own the shelter) for a larger shelter. A pane of glass was damaged when erecting the new shelter.
Read more in the Gazette and Herald here.
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KennetandBeyond is moving to Wiltshire...and beyond!
1 September 2009
The merging of Kennet District Council with all other councils into new Unitary Wiltshire last April has prompted a re-think of this site's name to WiltshireandBeyond.co.uk.
We are gradually bringing travel information for all Wiltshire. When this is complete there will be a single map.
The following addresses link to this site:
KennetPassengers.com
WiltshireandBeyond.co.uk
KennetandBeyond.co.uk
DevizesandBeyond.co.uk
MarlboroughandBeyond.co.uk
PewseyandBeyond.co.uk
TidworthandBeyond.co.uk
WiltshireandBeyond and all subsidiary sites is an initiative by the Association of Kennet Passengers.
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Pioneers celebrate 10th Wigglybus Birthday
19 July 1999
Pioneering passengers celebrate a turning point for rural transport.
Wigglybus was not just ground-breaking for Wiltshire but signalled a completely new approach for rural public transport for rural England.
Losing a first rate name was a shame but to gain the possibility of taxi bus extensions to reach new neighbourhoods and grow the Connect2 services to tempt more people to not use a car is not just a wish but a must.
Letter to Gazette and Herald here.
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Passengers wait patiently in all weathers
23 March 2009
A strong gust of wind damaged the bus shelter by Devizes cinema last winter. Three months on and passengers still have to wait in all weathers. Not the sort of treatment to attract motorists out of their cars.
Kennet Passengers discovered from Devizes Town Council that the shelter was not covered by their insurance and that members will need to consider replacing the £8,500 shelter when they meet after Easter.
We hope that before the weather turns nasty members will find the cash to support their green credentials and find a replacement that is less prone to wind damage and properly insured.
What's in it for the Town Council? Less traffic on the busiest days of the week! Plus lots of happy shoppers supporting Devizes who know that their shopping, babies in push chairs and wheel chair users will be kept dry AND they will have somewhere for their new timetables when published in April.
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Cycling round Wiltshire with a fridge... for a good cause
18 March 2009
Two intrepid cyclists are dragging a washing machine round Wiltshire and Swindon for two weeks in May in aid of Refurbiz. 
Find out how you can support a good cause AND sustainable transport from the comfort of your desk chair here!
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Forum seeks greater priority for public transport from new Wiltshire Council
2nd March 2009
A wide range of users of public transport generated searching questions put to Ian White, passenger transport manager at Wiltshire County Council and David Gillett, Connect2Wiltshire manager. On health users wanted to know whether the NHS had held meetings with Wiltshire's transport section before decisions were made about location of new services.
The answer revealed poor communication between both parties. Wiltshire were keen to hold discussions with the NHS, as a major developer, at the earliest opportunity. The new NHS campus on the edge of Devizes appeared to bring an opportunity to improve town services.
Too many answers to modest suggestions came down to lack of funds. But many questions demanded answers about more integration of thought, better consultation and higher quality information. The overall feeling was that:
a. there was a lack of priority for public transport which meant that the network could never function at optimum level,
b. the forum provided an imaginative and affordable opportunity to communicate with users and potential users - the very market that could drive up patronage for the services they wanted to shape, and
c. recent decisions to change or cut services did not have the benefit of consultations with users prior.
Those discussing a changes of attitude towards public transport felt that public transport in Wiltshire would be transformed if councillors were forced to give up their cars.
Are candidates for new Wiltshire Council listening to that challenge?
A summary of the 6 discussion groups will be published shortly.
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Did You Know? Kennet Passengers' film now on YouTube
18 Febuary 2009
The video "Did you know?" shows interviews with the public about the need for face to face travel information.
Connection to YouTube out of order. Please connect to YouTube here.
Of course, we all know that there are gaps in the network but when asked, very few people knew about regular bus links to Pewsey Station, hospital transport, late night buses to Bath or how to get rail information unless they were on line.
Devizes does not have the transport visibility of a railway station, bus station, or warm waiting room where people naturally congregate to find out about their travel options, tickets, rail access, or voluntary schemes.
The video makes it evident that a specialist travel information desk is vital to the daily life of Devizes and beyond.
The video also points out that the beauty of a travel advice desk is that it can pick up the travel gaps in the network and then act as an intermediary between users and service providers.
The positive support for a special travel and ticketing desk by visitors, business and residents is not surprising.
Click here for more videos on the Kennet Passenger's YouTube Channel.
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Passenger forum to grow public transport
9 Febuary 2009
A passenger forum to held on 25 February will discuss ways of growing public transport at Devizes Town Hall at 7.30pm with a panel of transport operators and other professionals. "Public transport is the life-blood of our local towns and villages. This is your chance to contribute to growing our services," said the Event Coordinator. 
Discussions groups will cover 7 themes:
Evening and week-end services
Access to rail heads and ticketing
Getting from villages to market towns and beyond
Commuting to main centres
Access to health facilities
Devizes town services
Tempting car users onto public transport.
Groups will then put their questions to the panel. The purpose of this event is to bring the evidence for areas of change and find ways of giving greater priority to public transport.
"Sometimes barriers to growing public transport can be as simple as asking the local authority to improve travel information. But sometimes it is a wider question: making sure that Government mean what they say when it comes to valuing our rural communities and giving us choices about getting about without damaging the climate more than we absolutely have to."
Past events by Kennet Passengers have led to new services such as the new taxi-bus to Pewsey Station.
Space is limited so booking is advisable. For an invitation to the Open Forum please click here.
SPECIAL OFFER! FREE TRANSPORT TO THE FORUM.
Call 01380 723129 quoting "Kennet Passengers Event" by 16 February and leave your details.
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Seasonal changes to Connect2 Wiltshire services
24 December 2008
There will be some timetable changes over Christmas and New Year: please link here for further information.
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Devizes Town Council supports a One Stop Shop for Travel Information in Devizes
11 November 2008
Devizes Town Council agreed to back Kennet Passengers' initiative for a specialist travel centre in Devizes based on their feasibility study if based at the Devizes Visitor Centre. Members appreciated that public transport needs a higher profile in Devizes and that trends in traffic need to be curtailed. The scheme would have a far wider benefit than just Devizes and members expected the County Council to give their backing.
It was appreciated that the transitional stage towards a unitary authority was not good timing and that Town Council support at the start up stage of a travel advice desk was important. Cllr Chris Callow was appointed to liaise with the passenger group's working party on behalf of the Town Council but the Council wanted further details prior to committing resources.
The decision moves Kennet Passengers a step nearer to fulfilling their ambitions for one stop shop for travel information (or 'virtual station') for Devizes.
"This is good news for the town and good news for buses," said Kate Freeman, Chairman of Kennet Passengers. "We don't have a railway station, nor do we have a bus station in the town. So we need to do all we can to raise the profile of public transport by other means. A one stop travel centre is bound to raise the profile of Devizes too. but there's a lot of work ahead. By working together I hope this travel desk will become one those win-win situations that we will all come to value as part of our daily lives."
The feasibility study report is strongly supported by a public opinion survey that was overwhelmingly in favour of the initiative. It also found that people wanted better information about how to access NHS treatment and entitlements for help with travel costs. You can see what people thought on the video that accompanies the group's report "Did you know?".
Kennet Passengers have worked towards a travel centre for Devizes since 2006. Their partners include Community First and now the Town Council. You can read the report here.
Service 33 to Chippenham and Calne: Going down!
1 September 2008
Residents in Calne will be pleased to see that service 33 will soon be going down in the world. In response to local demand operator APL is preparing two new wheelchair accessible high capacity vehicles for route number 33 and X33 from Devizes to Chippenham and Calne.
Owner Alan Legg said: "I feel terribly sorry for those less able bodied people who find it difficult to get on the 33 bus and we are making every effort to make all our buses disabled friendly." Proprietor Mr Legg is building up a fleet of low floor buses and pointed out to those who wish to see a more frequent service that this is proving difficult without extra public funding from the County Council.
NEW VIDEO: People explain why a travel information desk in Devizes matters
19 July 2008
The video "Did you know?" shows interviews with the public. Of course, we all know that there are gaps in the network but when asked, very few people knew about regular bus links to Pewsey Station, hospital transport, late night Devizes buses or late night Bath buses. The video makes it evident that a specialist travel information desk is vital to the daily life of Devizes and beyond.
The video also points out that the beauty of a travel advice desk is that it can pick up the travel gaps in the network and then act as an intermediary between users and service providers.
The positive support for a special travel and ticketing desk by visitors, business and residents is not surprising. Devizes does not have the transport visibility of a railway station, bus station, or warm waiting room where people naturally congregate to find out about their travel options, tickets, rail access, or voluntary schemes.
What people said: "That would be very good for the town." "It's face to face contact that's so important." "It would save an awful lot of messing around." "That would be brilliant." What do you think?
TAKE ACTION! If you share Kennet Passengers' vision for a travel information desk we would like to hear from you! Thank you for your support.
Find out more about Kennet Passengers' feasibility study for a travel information station. See Community First's article below.
Feasibility study for Travel Information Station for Devizes draws positive conclusions
14 April 2008
Kennet Passengers have completed their feasibility study for what they have dubbed "a travel information station2 for Devizes. The front page article opposite describes the study in greater detail [opens in new window].
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