‘Little progress’ made on uni bus chaos, as SU issues statement following Stagecoach meeting

Following a meeting with Stagecoach on 6 November, Warwick Students’ Union (SU) has admitted that “little progress” has been made on student concerns about transport services to and from the University.

The SU President, Alijah Taha, and Vice-President for Democracy and Development, James Varney, raised a number of student concerns during the meeting, with the core problems continuing to be the reliability and frequency of buses.

Complaints about bus services are a regular talking point at Warwick, with an investigation by The Boar last year finding that 3/4 of Leamington residents found bus delays and cancellations to have a negative impact on their lecture and seminar attendance.

Stagecoach told the SU that issues with their charging capacity for buses, a by-product of the electrification of their fleet, has led to regular constraints on the frequency of services. The problem is estimated to be solved by the end of the month.

The company also informed the SU that they are investigating concerns of late-night buses to Leamington Spa terminating at Parish Church bus stop, instead of continuing on their full route.

Students are encouraged to raise their concerns in the University Transport Survey, which can be found via the SU’s weekly email newsletter and their social media profile

Not all hindrances can be immediately resolved, however. Stagecoach said that a lack of space at the University Interchange at peak times means it is not viable to keep the buses “on hold”, further exacerbating issues of capacity at rush hour.

In a social media survey run by the SU, there was also a query about the frequency of the 60 and 87 bus services. With the allocation of these buses being decided by Transport for West Midlands, Stagecoach said it was difficult to make major progress on this matter.

The SU also expressed the concerns of students based at Gibbet Hill campus, who are often unable to utilise bus services due to the vehicles being packed to full capacity when coming from the University Interchange.

Stagecoach has offered two recommendations in this regard. First, they suggested that the buses could leave the Interchange with spare seats – but problems could then arise if they don’t fill up after reaching Gibbet Hill. They alternatively suggested that students wanting to travel to Leamington from Gibbet Hill should first get on the bus to campus instead of the other way around, staying on it until it reaches Leamington. No concrete solution has yet been found to deal with the matter.

The SU is expected to meet with Stagecoach again in January to follow up on the agenda from this meeting.

In the meantime, students are encouraged to raise their concerns in the University Transport Survey, which can be found via the SU’s weekly email newsletter and their social media profile.