LOCAL Bus services are crucial to the well-being of small communities whether they be villages or areas within towns,
News that Easyway is ceasing to trade is terrible for people living in many parts of the greater Bridgend area. Communities like Broadlands, Oaklands, Wildmill and Penyfai are losing their bus services from July 31. These are the buses that people use to get to Bridgend town centre but also to the Princess of Wales and Glanrhyd hospitals; to visit Macarthur Glen or to just go to the library.
BCBC has been in touch with other operators but so far nobody has come forward.
This dates back to a decision by the Welsh Labour Government to massively reduce funding for bus services so that councils like Bridgend decided that they could no longer afford to subsidise any local bus services.
Since then, all bus services have had to be commercially viable. So while the Labour Government has found the money to introduce a Universal Basic Income pilot and is funding the costs of having an extra 36 Senedd members with all their staff and offices – it cannot afford to subsidise bus services that many pensioners and the poorest in society rely on. Not much social inclusion here.