Bus group would like future of terminus in seafront plan
RE-SITING the bus terminus should be among the considerations of any Town seafront development proposals, according to the Bus Users Guernsey group co-ordinator.
‘The most important thing is to have a bus service that is intelligently designed and punctual and I think we have that,’ said Fergus Dunlop.
‘While moving the bus terminus would be a nice-to-have, there has to be some planning for the future.’
He was responding to comments from David Vowles, 64, who uses the buses daily, sometimes up to four times. He said a more enclosed shelter at the terminus would be of benefit.
‘What is there at the moment does nothing when there’s a howling easterly gale coming in off the sea,’ said Mr Vowles.
When the weather was wet it was often difficult to get under the existing shelters anyway due to demand.
The bus terminus could be a very cold place to wait, particularly for the elderly and for people with children.
Mr Vowles said he would not want to see trees felled, but considered things could be better for passengers with a bit of thought, including passengers not being able to get on a bus until just before departure and the buses were often cold when they did.
Mr Dunlop said the location of the terminus had been subject to major questions for a long time and he agreed that shelter provision could be better.
‘But you would not want to spend money on a lavish steel and glass design only to have it pulled down later,’ he said.
‘Nobody would want to see trees cut down and in the summer it’s the prettiest bus terminus in the world with views towards the marina, the harbour, Castle Cornet and the other islands.’
Moving the terminus had always been a fraught subject he said with a stand-off between those who wanted paid parking and those who did not, and those who favoured public transport and those who did not. A compromise needed to be reached.
There was not much space for parking buses at the existing terminus. Mr Dunlop said the question of whether passengers should be allowed on buses earlier than they are at present was a question for CT Plus. He was also aware that in summer for instance, some people found the buses too warm.
‘My understanding is that some of the buses have air conditioning while others don’t and I’m not sure what the possibilities are.’
n Nobody from CT Plus was available to comment.
