Sorry People... Fist Group again........

I suspect that this might be turning into an obsession; this constant itch that is 'Fist Group', that rears its ugly head repeatedly; but do you know what? I don't give a twopenny damn.

Last evening I was in a hurry to get home from work - I was to look after my partners niece for a couple of hours.

I had reached the top of Bathwick Hill at 1743 to catch the bus that is due to leave the bus stop at the University at 1741 the next stop on the route is The Youth Hostel and is timed at 1746 which is about a quarter of a mile down the hill. The bus was already on its way down the hill.

A dozen other passengers arrived, waited, chatted, took cover from the rain and walked on down the hill. By 1815 there were still a dozen or so people waiting so in all I estimate that 2 dozen people had expected to catch a bus to town from the top of Bathwick Hill in the previous half hour.

I'd had enough, I knew there wasn't a bus at the top so couldn't really expect a bus empty enough to board within 15 minutes. After missing 2 buses out (1756 & 1811) there was bound to be a queue at the top and this fact was borne out by people who stopped to comment as they continued to walk down the hill.

A couple of minutes later a bus slowly ground its way up the last stretch of the hill full of passengers for the university, followed by another 50 yards behind with a few people on board, followed another 50 yards behind by an empty bus.

By now I'd had enough, I called a taxi to collect me from outside the house across the road (they're not allowed to pick up fares without an address?).

Five minutes later an empty bus - the last one to go up - came down - 'Sorry, not in service' was the only comment. Everyone groaned, shrugged their shoulders and a couple more walked on down the hill.

Finally at about 1828 a laden bus arrived and picked up anyone still left at the stop followed immediately by a less full bus. I declined the opportunity to board as the arrival of the taxi I'd called was imminent.

The cab duly arrived moments later and I was in town before the last bus down.

This morning a went to the bus station to find out what had happened to the buses above and what explanation they could give:

1. It's the University's fault for not letting them know about the Open Day. They had put 2 extra buses on. I pointed out that they only had 4 buses out when I saw all 4 of them between 1745 and 1845.

2. I had no idea about traffic conditions in Bath yesterday evening (my fault?). I pointed out that if conditions were bad then they should know about it very quickly on a route that has a 'round trip' time of 30 minutes. Why were there no extra buses put on to meet their commitment to a timetable?

3. If we want more buses we would have to pay higher fares (Blackmail). Fist Group make profit hand over fist at the expense of the taxpayer and private individuals. Fist Group will not put extra buses on because they don't have to. There is no compulsion to provide anything more than a minimum service. Their only legal obligations are to run to the published timetable when they have no one else to blame for not doing so and the great god 'Shareholder Value' - screw the traveling public we'll just have to wait for the next bus.

4. I don't know anything about running a bus company. I pointed out that I had worked for Bristol Omnibus Company some years ago and had been a bus user in Bath for 37 years - I don't drive and don't own a car, of course I know about buses.

The real kicker is that the Chief Executive of Fist Group - M. Leekhead has been given a knighthood for 'Services to Transport'.

Way hay, their shares just dropped another 14p. So much for shareholder value.

When are we going to get the Public Transport Services that this Town, Country and Planet needs to survive the CO2 overload? The answer to that question is - When it gets NATIONALISED - not for profit means proper investment. Public Service must be Public and a Service.