Two recent incidents regarding late night buses unable to fully accommodate demand for travel have raised questions over the council’s delivery of public transport.
Nine people were left behind at Stornoway bus station on a Friday night earlier this month when the last minibus from Stornoway to Ness which has a Shawbost and Carloway connection was unable to take all the passengers waiting to get home.
A similar situation occurred to people who could not get a seat on the late evening bus leaving the town on another night the same week when they were told the vehicle had reached its maximum capacity limit.
In two instances a 15-
He said he is “very concerned” that a child could be effectively stranded in town at night.
The problem stems from the restricted vehicle capacity in the contract to operate a 16-
The driver is not permitted to carry more than the maximum limit. Standing is not allowed.
The bus may pick up passengers at the Co-
Two adults that weekend also hired a separate taxi across the Barvas moor after being unable to board the minibus.
The fare to the furthest away point of Ness or to Shawbost and Carloway would be about £80.
“Its the first time its happened to us but I’m aware this was not an isolated incident,” he added.
Bus services in the Western Isles are unprofitable and only operate with a council subsidy.
Provision of evening bus services in Lewis were in doubt when contracts were awarded in 2019 following a major reform in the light of council cutbacks. Only Lochs Motors submitted a bid which included evening runs.
Due to the pandemic a planned community transport was rescheduled.
The comhairle told Hebrides News they are aware of the issue and are exploring options to see if any solution can be found.
The options would involve increasing capacity though there would be “funding implications.”
A spokesman said: “As with all public bus services in the Western Isles, these services do not operate on a commercial basis and require significant levels of subsidy.
“Public bus services are not a statutory duty on local authorities, so services are discretionary and although demand is considered, the level of service that is available is primarily determined by the budget available to provide subsidy.
“For most of the year, the capacity on this route is adequate for the number of passengers that use this service.
“For any public transport service with limited capacity, there will potentially be occasions when the bus becomes full.
“The budget available for public bus service subsidy has been steadily diminishing as local authorities have less money.
“The comhairle’s budget has proportionately fallen by more than any other local authority in Scotland, and this will continue to add pressure on the continuation of discretionary services, such as public bus services.”
Roddy Macdonald of Lochs Motors said he “understands the frustration.”
He points out they are strictly limited to carrying 16 people and is very rarely turn people away. Demand that weekend was the highest since the contract commenced.
“For 99.9% of the time the bus is well within capacity. You could count on one hand how many times the bus has been full.”
Given the uncertainty over the future of services after 6pm, “we saw a need to keep some form of evening service for the community and incorporated that in the timetable.”
Passengers numbers have dropped off significantly over the past 20 years, posing environmental and cost implications of running large coaches empty, he explained.
Comhairle assess options after passengers left behind by bus
30 August 2023
