Bus station loses Derby business

12.00.00am GMT Fri 23rd Dec 2005

The new "on street" bus station got the thumbs down from passengers in the recent survey

Derby shops are suffering due to the lack of seats, shelters and loos at the temporary bus station. This is the finding of a survey of bus passengers done earlier this month.

The survey, carried out by the Liberal Democrats, asked 100 bus passengers about their experience of the temporary, on-street, bus station arrangements. Over half the respondents said that the current arrangements were poor or awful. Nearly one in six people (15%) said they would be less likely to travel to Derby as a result. Some said that it would make no difference as they had no choice but to use the bus.

Cllr Lucy Care, Lib Dem Parliamentary campaigner for Derby said "The council needs to take urgent action to improve things for bus passengers, so they aren't put off coming to Derby. Travelling by bus is one of the most sustainable ways to travel. The current arrangements are therefore bad in three ways - hitting the local economy, the environment and local people. The new bus station will have the facilities travellers want, but that is not planned to open for another 2 years."

The temporary arrangements came into operation on 23rd October. They had been discussed between the bus station developers (Metro Holst), the council and the bus companies.