In a survey carried out by members of Guildford Labour Party before Christmas, bus users in made it clear that they want a replacement bus station in Guildford.

The survey, which involved talking to over 100 passengers, was conducted at bus stops around the borough during November and December. It was carried out to enable the Labour Party to better understand the concerns of bus passengers.

Overall, most people view the bus service in Guildford as good if quite expensive. The most positive passengers are those using Park & Ride services which are seen as frequent, reliable and inexpensive.

It was notable that frequent bus users (people who use the buses at least once a week) think that buses provide a better service than uncommon users, but they are also more likely to view the service as expensive.

Over half the respondents were using an elderly person’s bus pass, and so were not paying for their bus journey. Many commented that they would not be able to afford the bus without it.

 

Graph 1
Graph 1

Very few respondents wanted to see the bus station move, though a small minority recognised the issue of the bus station being so far from the train station. However, there was an almost unanimous view that the bus station is in a very poor state of repair, is too cramped and uncomfortable, very dirty with poor technology and there were concerns over the number of people sleeping rough there.

The other main issues raised were those of frequency and reliability. Even where there is electronic signage, many respondents talked of services which ‘vanish’ without explanation.

Commenting on the report, Howard Smith, Guildford Labour’s Parliamentary spokesperson said that the overriding messages from this research are that “Guildford needs to get on with building a new, state-of-the-art bus station at its current location and increase its work on prioritising bus lanes to improve reliability of the services. Better digital services could also give passengers more up to date and accurate information about their services. This has been a great exercise since I believe it’s important to ask Guildford people for their views when proposing changes”

Guildford Labour Party would like to thank all those who took part in the survey and will use their findings to finalise their policy on bus transport in Guildford.

Graph 2
Graph 2
Howard and Bus
Howard and Bus
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