Schoolchildren and other Corris residents staged a protest at the village bus stop on Friday 23 February in outrage at the recent changes to the local bus services.
Due to Cyngor Gwynedd budget cuts, the 34 bus service running from Corris to Aberystwyth has changed to a Fflecsi bus service for residents to ring up or use a phone app to book, and the school bus service has changed its timetables leaving children waiting in the cold for their schools to open.
Teething problems with the new services, which started 19 February after “no consultation” with locals have “wreaked havoc” with residents' schedules, leaving people forced to leave work early to get home, the elderly waiting out in the rain for buses that refuse to stop at shelters, and causing many to fear the loss of independence in the remote Afon Dulas valley.
David Hickey from Corris who is ‘pushing 80’ and walks with the aid of a stick said: “It’s going to hit me badly. I can’t walk up the hill to access the buses that don’t stop in the village, so having no 34 is going to severely restrict my movement.
“I’ve never seen it happen that to save money you would put more buses out - none of us know when a bus has been booked, so I’ve seen as many as eight fflecsi buses carrying individual people in one morning. It’s like an inefficient taxi service, it makes no sense. The bus drivers are even more against it.”
Residents have also complained they are “not allowed on” fflecsi buses that they haven’t booked with directly, meaning the buses are often nearly empty.
Wayne Colquhoun, 60, said: “If you turn up and haven’t booked on the bus you’re not formally allowed on. It used to be a friendly service where you knew the drivers. It’s a b****y shambles, a mess, and uneconomic. Buses drive far more miles this way, it would be better to have kept it to two fixed times a day than this.”
Julie Haggerty, 66, said: “I moved to Corris because of the good bus service. I have no family nearby and I’m widowed so the bus maintained my independence.
“Community members are offering lifts to their neighbours but that may help justify bus services not being used to cut it even further. Older people want to retain their dignity and independence and not have to rely on their neighbours.
“Now if you try to book the fflecsi service over the phone the bus office doesn’t know the area and sends buses to the wrong pick up points. Many are booking buses for elderly residents because they find the app difficult.
“I’m also concerned it will impact businesses in Machynlleth if we can no longer pop into town as we please.”
The fflecsi service maintained by Lloyds Coaches has fixed pick-up points that aren’t at covered bus shelters, meaning people have to wait in the elements for the 20-minute windows fflecsi buses give for their arrival.
This comes as the bus service that takes children from Corris to Tywyn High School/ Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn has changed its timings.
The 30-minute bus route changed to leave Corris 35 minutes earlier meaning children arrive 25 minutes before the school gates open, leaving them to ‘loiter’ outside the gates in the cold, or at the nearby Coop store.
A concerned parent at the protest last week, Ty Hussein, said: “My older daughter [13] has to get up at 6.30am now to catch the bus, she’s exhausted. The kids hang around Tywyn and in the Coop till school starts and get up to mischief.”
Emma Worthington, another parent, said: “Because we have to drop our older child at the bus stop [located outside the primary school Ysgol Dyffryn Dulas Corris ] we have to bring the younger ones too.
“We now have children waiting outside the primary school for 40 minutes until breakfast club, so they’re in two hours earlier than they need to be.”
Gwynedd County Council is planning to hold engagement events over the coming weeks to address concerns. A spokesperson said: “The previous contracts for these services had been in place for a number of years and following a review to ensure that the services meet the current needs and provide the best possible use of public funding, the services were re-tendered.
“Although the school day at Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn starts at 8.30am, the school is open before this time and the G4 service is currently timetabled to arrive at 8.09am. While we accept that this is slightly earlier than was previously the case, we believe that it ensures that pupils arrive at the school site ready to start their education on time.
“As with all learner transport arrangements, the fflecsi service is subject to review and the situation will be monitored. The service will inevitably take time to settle as people become used to this new way of using the bus. We’re aware there have been some issues with the booking process which TfW is working to resolve as quickly as possible.
“Based on historical usage there was a very real challenge to the sustainability and viability of the previous 34 bus service from an environmental and financial perspective. The fflecsi service offers an alternative approach which we hope will positively respond to these challenges and provide a suitable long-term transport option for the area.”