Madam,

I would like to comment on the contents and issues raised by ‘Bwcabus routes extended’ (Cambrian News, 23 February). First I must say I am absolutely in favour of transport in rural communities. It must be clear that the vehicle used on fixed routes should not be conflated with the service offered under the Bwcabus scheme.

It is the actual Bwcabus scheme that represents the inefficient use of resources because it is a 19-seater vehicle and it must pick up a booking and proceed to the destination booked without picking up or dropping off passengers in between. If someone else has booked the vehicle when you need it to access health care, employment, training or part of your social life, you’re out of luck.

The actual cost per passenger mile of the booked bus is something of a mystery as the data appears to be impenetrably buried in a bureaucratic morass. Requests under Freedom of Information have hit brick wall after brick wall. If the information is so hard to retrieve then how on earth can this service be regarded as successful or otherwise?

Perhaps a different approach is required and constructive criticism should be taken on board rather than being ignored as unwanted interference. Heaping praise time after time without substantiating the basis for such acclaim, no matter how often it is repeated, doesn’t make it true.

Yours etc

Ian Foster

Temple Bar.