XR activists blockade city airport bus

ACTIVISTS in Bristol blockaded an airport bus in protest at the state of the regular bus services in the city yesterday.

The campaigners from Extinction Rebellion Youth gathered around the bus at the stop on Redcliffe Way as it was returning from the airport to Temple Meads station, unfurled a long banner and prevented it from continuing its journey to the station.

XR Youth Bristol said its action was part of a wider campaign called ‘Free Buses, Fair Buses’, which was launched in June and has seen a number of different protests and stunts in the months since.

Last month, the activists boarded and blocked a Bristol Flyer Airport Bus as it arrived at Temple Meads from Bristol Airport, and the group has also sprayed messages including ‘This bus could be free’ on the pavements near bus stops in the city centre.

Extinction Rebellion Youth Bristol said that, because the bus had returned from the airport to the city centre, ‘no passengers were at risk of missing flights’.

The activists said they are targeting Bristol Airport’s bus service because, while First Bus has cut the bus services across the city, the airport bus service, which is subsidised by the airport itself, has not been affected by the driver shortages.

All of XR Youth Bristol’s members are under 30, and spokesperson Torin Menzies is just 17.

“We are continuing to disrupt the Airport Flyer service because FirstBus have increased the scale of their cuts to the West of England’s buses,” he said.

“Our public transport network is in a dire state – FirstBus have shown that they are more interested in serving the potentially expanding Bristol Airport instead of our local communities.”

“Metro Mayor Dan Norris needs to take urgent action and introduce bus franchising in order to prevent further deterioration of these vital services – it’s time for WECA to step up and reclaim our buses,” he added.