Kent residents say bus services aren't up to scratch

KentOnline / KMTV

With the £2 bus fare scheme being extended across the country, commuters in Kent say the initiative has been beneficial for them and transformed the way they travel.

Transcript

00:00 A one-way bus ticket in Kent currently costs £2.

00:03 The Get Around for £2 scheme was first introduced back in January to help tackle the cost of

00:08 living crisis.

00:10 Since then, some say this has transformed the way they travel around Kent.

00:14 For me personally, I always used to cycle.

00:18 So I was one of those people that I used to sometimes use public transport occasionally,

00:22 but I got out of the habit of using it as a real sort of like regular means of getting

00:26 from A to B.

00:28 So as soon as it came along and my partner said, "£2 to go anywhere," that was it.

00:32 So since then, it's completely transformed how I've been using buses.

00:35 So I'm one of those people that it got me off of other modes of transport onto buses.

00:40 I love them now.

00:41 Can't stop using them.

00:42 I travel to Maidstone at least once a week from Sturry.

00:46 So I walk into Canterbury and then I'll get the £2 bus fare all the way over to Maidstone.

00:50 And it's the same with my partner because she lives about 36 miles away.

00:53 If we were to cycle, it's about 36 miles away.

00:55 So it's been an absolute godsend.

00:57 Before the £2 bus fare cap was introduced, a single local bus ticket would cost £2.80

01:03 and in some areas up to £5.

01:05 The scheme was meant to come to an end at the end of this month, but after the Prime

01:09 Minister's decision to redirect costs from the HS2 project, it's been extended until

01:14 December next year.

01:16 But despite the £2 bus fare cap making it cheaper for those using the buses, one commuter

01:20 says the services need major improvements and is even thinking of buying a car instead.

01:26 And at worst, I've waited for about an hour.

01:29 I mean, when they're good, they can be really good.

01:31 You can like, literally, I can walk out the office straight through the Pentagon and straight

01:34 onto a bus.

01:35 I mean, that's amazing.

01:36 And be home within 10 minutes.

01:38 But there are other times where they've cancelled, don't inform anybody, and then you can, let's

01:43 say, wait an hour.

01:45 It just throws everything out of joint.

01:47 And that's what makes me feel like, you know what, in the new year, I'm going to get a

01:52 car.

01:53 The Arriva bus fleet here, they are approaching, a lot of them, I think, they're approaching

01:58 their half-life where they need major overhauling, like new engines, gearboxes and that sort

02:03 of thing.

02:04 And yet they seem to run the bus service, although it's subsidised by the government,

02:09 they just seem to run it on a prerogative at times.

02:11 In a statement, a spokesperson from Arriva South, the major bus operator in Kent, said,

02:16 "Our buses in Kent are running to time in most instances, but sometimes our buses have

02:20 to wait in roadworks, which are out of our control.

02:23 In terms of safety and engineering, our vehicles are checked and maintained to the legal standards

02:27 expected from a public transport business."

02:30 It asks for customers who have complaints about specific routes and services to contact

02:34 them.

02:35 Mahima Abedin for KMTV.

Category

Transcript

Recommended