Was just chatting about them recently with a a mate who lives in London. I’ve long held that PFI has almost universally sucked - over and over again - but Reading Buses are an (the?) exception.
Listed off their initiatives, features and service and his mind was blown. Even with the changes north of the river to routes 22-24, it’s still really good. It’s a low bar, sure, but RB are doing something right.
Buses are the most commonly used form of public transport in England - yet in recent years routes have been disappearing at an alarming rate.
One area bucking the national trend is Reading. The town - 40 miles to the west of London - was hit by Covid restrictions like everywhere else but the number of journeys on local bus services had been on the rise before the pandemic too. Reading is one of only five areas in England where the local bus company is owned by the council.
“You have local people that live and breathe the area, running the services and working out what should happen. It’s not a central head office, hundreds of miles away.” It also means that if the council puts money into things like bus lanes it sees a direct return - better services, more passengers and higher revenue from fares which can then be reinvested.
If it wins power, Labour says it would give all areas the same opportunity to introduce franchising as metro mayors, as well as allowing councils and regional mayors to set up their own bus companies.
the bus service in the photo (Purple 17 💜) is so frequent, that by the time you’ve gotten to the bus stop and checked the time, there’s one (or sometimes three) buses coming up the road! Reading council doesn’t get enough credit for Reading buses being fantastic
Just like any meetup of whatever fans, just get a proper location and, if necessary, permissions. Well, and don’t speed on the way to or from the meeting…
No sympathy for the wee fannies if they’re disturbing residents, but fuck me, there are hundreds of places they could meet, like abandoned airfields and retail parks, but guaran-fuckin-teed the police would turn up and break it up there too.
Love that they’re calling the cafe The Green Rabbit to go along with the other colour themed names in the street. Still can’t really comprehend how it’ll all fit together but exciting nonetheless
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