The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Bus passengers cross dual-carriage gauntlet
Ayouth worker claims he is risking his life crossing a dual carriageway to get to a bus stop – after Stagecoach cut local services.
The company removed the X54 service from Newport-on-tay during the network change.
Chris Cameron says he is risking his safety crossing the busy dual carriageway beside the Forgan roundabout to reach his stop.
The 29-year-old is a youth worker with Newport-on-tay kirk.
He works with youngsters from primary seven to sixth year.
Mr Cameron said children he works with are “scared” of making this journey to the bus stop.
“It’s horrendous,” he said.
“And I’m an able-bodied person. I can’t imagine what a youngster, disabled or elderly person, feels like.
“It’s hard enough to get about as it is without them taking services away. “Something’s got to give.” Mr Cameron has nonepileptic attack disorder, meaning he is prone to seizures.
He has been reliant on public transport for the last three years and said things are getting worse.
Mr Cameron often takes young people of the Newport-on-tay church on outings.
“If we want to go to Dundee, we have to cross the dual carriageway at Forgan roundabout and the single 50mph carriageway,” he said.
“There are no traffic lights.
“You’ve just got to go for it.”
Issues with the Stagecoach service are not new.
There was anger this summer as a number of services were cut around Tayside and Fife, with campaigns to keep the services intact.
And although Moffat and Williamson recently picked up Stagecoach’s slack with the 77 service to keep parts of Fife connected, Chris said it still is not good enough.
“I’m not comfortable taking the kids across that carriageway,” he said.
“Just stand there for five minutes and you will see what we have to go through.”
Stagecoach did not give sufficient warning about the cut, Mr Cameron said.
“My main concern is the fact that they’ve changed the X54 without prior consultation,” he added.
And he claimed Stagecoach “hid” the fact the service would be removed.
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach East Scotland denied the claims and said low passenger numbers were behind the cuts.
She said: “Service X54 was withdrawn from Newport-on-tay due to low passenger numbers.
“The route was revised during our recent network change.
“We held a consultation for all aspects of the network change prior to the changes being finalised, which was advertised on (sic) bus and on our website.”
However, the positioning of bus stops is the responsibility of the local council.
Liberal Democrat Allan Knox said teamwork was required to make the necessary changes.
The Tay Bridgehead councillor said he has “run the gauntlet” and crossed the dual carriageway himself many times.
“It wasn’t my favourite thing to do but it’s not about me,” he said.
“I’m relatively mobile and can run quite quickly if needs be.
“Both the council and the bus providers need to work together to ensure there is adequate provision of stops in safe and accessible places if we are to have a public transport system that works for everyone.”