Low-traffic neighbourhoods have led to ‘exasperatingly’ slow bus journeys in Oxford according to a report prepared by three local bus companies.
The report says that ‘chronic’ gridlock means some bus journeys are now not viable for passengers as they can be ‘so long as to be entirely exasperating’ and some routes are apparently ‘slower than a comfortable walking speed’.
PM Rishi Sunak vowed to fight back against anti-motorist’ policies enforced by local authorities but it’s obviously come too late for Oxford residents who ‘benefitted’ from £3m of government funding to launch the LTNs – led by Labour’s Anneliese Dodds.
Bus companies will obviously be wanting to make journeys as quick as possible as costs for running services significantly rise in the event of delays while they also discourage users from hopping on board.
But, according to the report, three zones in the east of the city have seen routes blocked off in order to encourage more cycling and walking have been ‘a failure in almost all respects’ and costs are so high that one operator – Stagecoach Oxford – says a deal to bring 159 electric buses to the city are now at risk.
A council spokesman said new traffic filters would be introduced to ‘alleviate congestion, make bus journeys faster and more reliable, and to enable new and improved routes’.
