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Details of a bus stop in Wokingham that has never been served by a bus were revealed at last week’s full council meeting of Wokingham borough council.
Councillor Marie-Louise Weighill, Wokingham Labour’s transport spokesperson, highlighted a bus shelter on Diamond Jubilee Way, complete with road markings declaring it to be a bus stop.
She said that currently, no services use the stop and there are none in the pipeline.
She said: “In my ward, we have ghost bus stops which a bus has never, and probably will never, use.
“This has a severe impact on existing transport infrastructure and contributes to a lack of support for improving local transport.”
She said that proposal to invest £1.9 million in Wokingham’s bus services lack ambition and depth, meaning ghost bus stops will continue to haunt the borough for years to come, while residents will be forced to drive rather than use public transport.
Tonight (Thursday, March 27) the council’s ruling executive committee will be asked to vote on the local transport plans.
The Labour group said the plan includes aspirations to introduce just three new routes, rather than firm plans.
They include seeing a “white elephant park and ride” pressed into use, adding additional services to another park and ride route, and maybe introducing a bus route between two railway stations that are already connected by South Western railway services.
In a statement, the group said: “The lack of vision on creating new services and routes means that residents, particularly on new-build housing estates, will continue to be reliant on their cars rather than taking greener methods of transport.
“This causes congestion on Wokingham’s roads, and makes it harder for the borough council to achieve its Net Zero ambitions by 2030.
Councillor Weighill added: “The reality of local transport in Wokingham borough is not reflected in the local transport plan.
“Again and again, transport infrastructure is delivered well after housing, if at all.”
“This means that residents moving into the new homes will get used to driving to work, to shops, and to leisure activities rather than using public transport.
“As a result, if services are ever provided, it will be harder to shift people’s behaviours.”
In a statement to Wokingham Today, Cllr Martin Alder, executive member for active transport, travel and highways, said: “The bus stops referred to on Diamond Jubilee Way were installed by the housing developers, so there was no cost to the council.
“We prefer developers to provide us with funding for such facilities so we can install them ourselves when needed, but we cannot insist on that and it was not the case on this occasion.
“Bus services would usually be delivered when most homes are occupied.
“Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic has meant that there has been a delay to the delivery of any further bus services in the borough. In March 2020 passenger numbers fell by over 70% overnight, which meant that bus services were no longer viable to operate.
“The council approved additional funding to help support the existing services to ensure that they could continue to run.
“Whilst in some parts of the borough bus services have recovered to their pre-covid level and we are now able to start to improve them further and also consider introducing new ones, this is still not the case in Wokingham town.
“We are reviewing our local bus network shortly and will be considering the needs of the residents in this area, along with the funds available.
“We will look to identify what an appropriate level of service might look like.”
