The so-called Brigg Shoppers Bus is a lifeline to many pensioners and disabled people in the town. It's subsidised by North Lincolnshire Council, and in Brigg Blog's humble view this is a case of public money being very well spent.
Latest "stats" from North Lincolnshire Council show that the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday service averages 72 users per day - 87 per cent of whom are classed as OAPs. (Figures for the period Sept 1 to Dec 31, 2012)
The council subsidises the service to the tune of £12,000+ per year and each journey made costs the authority more than £1.
The bus runs in three "loops" all starting at Cary Lane - visiting Redcombe Lane, Springbank, Poplar Drive; St Helen's Road, Churchill Avenue, Woodbine Avenue; and Bigby High Road, as far as Brigg Garden Centre. It should be stressed that the bus also picks up passengers on other streets in the vicinity of the ones mentioned.
North Lincolnshire Council yesterday (March 28) ended a "consultation" about this No 91 service, operated by Hornsby. It was asking for "comments on the future of this service."
The reference to "future of this service" should not start alarm bells ringing. We have heard no suggestion that the axe is to fall. Indeed, a council officer who specialises in public transport has compiled a report and added a Proposed Timetable October 2013.
If the powers-that-be accept this report, it could be that the so-called Bigby High Road Loop will see changes. This route is described as "very little used." Indeed, when council staff had a look on Thursday, January 10 they found nobody on four journeys. "Though we are asked about a bus to the Garden Centre from time to time, there are very few passengers," says the report.
Under the proposals for councillors to consider, Brigg Garden Centre, on Bigby High Road, will still be served but by an extended run taking in the villages of Cadney and Howsham, whose residents, particularly pensioners, will be very pleased. So, too, will Brigg businesses, which will benefit from some extra custom.
Copies of the full report from North Lincolnshire Council, complete with the recommended timetable to apply from October, were circulated to Brigg councillors when they met in the Angel Suite for their March meeting on Monday.
Coun Ann Eardley was a shade concerned about the proposed changes for Bigby High Road and drew attention to the numbers quoted for a day in January. She suggested no-one could be expected to go along and buy plants at that time of year!
Councillor James Truepenny described such subsidised bus services as "vital for social inclusion in this area."
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