Monday, October 02, 2006
Self-Congratulatory Sham
The local "news"paper tells us here that the ftr bus is up for an award. Unfortunately it isn't the "six foot under award" I'd be prepared to nominate them for, but rather an "accolade is intended to recognise organisations that have successfully worked together and achieved significant results in increasing bus patronage."
As we're told:
"That is likely to come as a surprise to some passengers who have complained about how the vehicle has been beset by ticketing problems."
It is left (pardon the pun) to a comment from the Labour (of all people) councillor to bring a dose of reality to the proceedings: "Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, Labour's transport spokeswoman, said: "I would be very interested to see how many ftr passengers were consulted about this.
"I am still getting letters about the poor service and the poor ticketing arrangements. We will be asking further questions about ftr at full council. I think it is a shame that the people behind the awards don't know the truth of the ftr on the ground.""
Well poor service and poor ticketing are only the start, the fact is that the bus is huge and only carries 37 passengers. It is a nuisance on the roads, many of which have had to be modified, including the removal of "safety" features just to accommodate this useless bus. It delays traffic and holds everybody else up, the best place for the ftr is the scrap heap.
Here quoted from the article there are some views of the people, you may find the views all seem one way, but there are none praising the ftr:
"Pauline Martin, of Osbaldwick, said: "I've heard many complaints about the ftr buses and you see very few people using them so it seems strange to give them an award."
Jack Goddard, 30, who is a retail worker, of Bell Farm, York, said: "If it's failing the way it's failing, you might as well give an award to a terrorist!"
Amy Brighton, 20, a student, of Thixendale, said: "A service so unreliable shouldn't be up for an award. I've not used an ftr bus first-hand, but I would be anxious doing so."
Katie Sylvester, 18, a student from Heworth, said: "They should be given an award for the worst bus service. Having a separate cockpit for the driver is really anti-social""
Why is this thing up for an award? Because the award is a worthless taxpayer funded junket existing for the sole purpose of providing a "jolly" for some "public servants" and to convince us (the taxpayer) that our money is being well spent and all is well, after all it must be otherwise it wouldn't come up for the award now would it?
What a disgraceful sham.
As we're told:
"That is likely to come as a surprise to some passengers who have complained about how the vehicle has been beset by ticketing problems."
It is left (pardon the pun) to a comment from the Labour (of all people) councillor to bring a dose of reality to the proceedings: "Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, Labour's transport spokeswoman, said: "I would be very interested to see how many ftr passengers were consulted about this.
"I am still getting letters about the poor service and the poor ticketing arrangements. We will be asking further questions about ftr at full council. I think it is a shame that the people behind the awards don't know the truth of the ftr on the ground.""
Well poor service and poor ticketing are only the start, the fact is that the bus is huge and only carries 37 passengers. It is a nuisance on the roads, many of which have had to be modified, including the removal of "safety" features just to accommodate this useless bus. It delays traffic and holds everybody else up, the best place for the ftr is the scrap heap.
Here quoted from the article there are some views of the people, you may find the views all seem one way, but there are none praising the ftr:
"Pauline Martin, of Osbaldwick, said: "I've heard many complaints about the ftr buses and you see very few people using them so it seems strange to give them an award."
Jack Goddard, 30, who is a retail worker, of Bell Farm, York, said: "If it's failing the way it's failing, you might as well give an award to a terrorist!"
Amy Brighton, 20, a student, of Thixendale, said: "A service so unreliable shouldn't be up for an award. I've not used an ftr bus first-hand, but I would be anxious doing so."
Katie Sylvester, 18, a student from Heworth, said: "They should be given an award for the worst bus service. Having a separate cockpit for the driver is really anti-social""
Why is this thing up for an award? Because the award is a worthless taxpayer funded junket existing for the sole purpose of providing a "jolly" for some "public servants" and to convince us (the taxpayer) that our money is being well spent and all is well, after all it must be otherwise it wouldn't come up for the award now would it?
What a disgraceful sham.
Tags: ftr, York council, tax, sham award
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
