Local buses are a vital part of our communities. They are part of our future. Across the Stroud district, with a network of small market towns linked by poor roads, good bus services are essential. Families and businesses rely on them. A good transport infrastructure takes cars off the roads (and out of car parks), and benefits the environment and the local economy. 

Stagecoach has announced that they are cutting services in February. This is on the back of a number of cuts over the last couple of years. Stagecoach claim that this is because of low customer numbers, and will make remaining services more reliable.

Stagecoach has failed to operate a reliable service across the district and we are losing services because of their failure. Where communities have reliable transport services they are well used.

We call on Stagecoach to:

• work with local communities to review how each route is affected, and to come up with workable solutions
• cancel the cuts until the review process is complete
• agree basic service standards (based on community size/location/demographics)

Public transport is the future. Cutting services is the wrong thing to do.