Families call for old school buses to return after children's journey time doubles

Families in Duxford have called for their former school bus services to be brought back after some children's journey times doubled. A petition signed by 222 people asked Cambridgeshire County Council to bring back the SW05 and SW06 service that took their children to school in Sawston.

Parents claimed the bus services were removed without them being consulted, with some children being given a bus pass to use the public 7A service, and others being placed on a separate SW01 service. The families said the journey to school on the old services had taken between 15 to 20 minutes, but that the journey for those on the SW01 was now taking 40 to 45 minutes.

They added that the children on the 7A bus still received a direct service. Emma Merrells, who organised the petition, told councillors at a meeting this week (November 26) that the longer journey times were having a negative impact on the children. She said: “We desire an equitable solution for all children in the village to have the same journey.

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“The wellbeing and safety impact this earlier start and longer journey is having on the SW01 children is clear, how tired they are in comparison to their peers, how often families are now having to drive to school to compensate - this is inconvenient, uneconomical, and bad for the environment. The 7A remains unfilled with multiple seats available, the public either think it is a school bus, because it currently says ‘not in service’ on the front, or are not using it. If the SW01 children board this it costs them a fare and the driver has the right to refuse them.”

The change to the home to school transport was made as part of an attempt to improve the viability of the public 7A bus service. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which subsidises the service, worked with the county council to move pupils who had been taken to school by a private bus onto the underutilised 7A.

A report published by the Combined Authority in September said 61 students who primarily were travelling from Duxford to Sawston had been moved onto the 7A. The papers said: “This has enabled [the county council] to remove a private transport contract and enable efficiencies, whilst bringing in revenue and passengers to a public bus route, which still enables travel for wider residents who choose to use it.”

The report said officers would be “working closely” with the bus operator to “learn lessons and ensure students can safely and efficiently travel to and from education”. Ms Merrells said the petitioners recognised the transport team at the county council had made some changes and said they were grateful for that.

She added that in the 24 hours before the meeting the offer of a new bus service, the SW04, had also been made. Ms Merrells said this could "potentially" be the solution the families were looking for, but said they still needed the full details to be confirmed. She said: “Essentially we want our children picked up at the previous time with a direct journey, retaining stops at the Old Bank, Wheatsheaf, Plough, and Lacey’s Way to make it equitable for the north and south sides of the village. We do feel this is achievable and we thank the council for taking our proposal seriously.”

Councillor Bryony Goodliffe said a written response to the petition would be sent out within 10 working days of the meeting.