The survey stated that 38% of people never travel on the buses; this confirms the results from my survey which showed that 75.0% of people drive to work. We live in a democracy and it is our choice in the way that we travel, using whatever means suits our purpose. I would have expected this figure to be much higher in fact. This is not as high as I had expected and clearly shows that the mode of transport is relevant to people’s life style and that car usage is not as high as TTS would have us believe.

So please… STOP trying to dictate to us in the way that we wish to travel. The car for many people is a cost effective practical solution to travelling.

The survey also states that 24% of people would never give up the use of their car. Although this is lower than I would expect, it does confirm the result from my survey that showed 80.0% of the public would not use public transport.

It is not practical to expect someone to walk to a bus stop in the freezing cold, wind & rain & then walk to your work place because the bus won't drop you off close enough and then look like a drowned rat to attend your next business meeting. It’s simply not practical.

This is clearly an indication of the busy and personal lives that people lead and is totally impractical to expect people to use the bus service when it does not offer the convenience of car usage. In most cases it would take to long to get to work.

So we have now established that car usage is an integral part of people’s lives TTS should now concentrate on providing the infrastructure for that use. And start to build car parks for people to park in.

And stop trying to force us on to the over subsidised buses that we don’t want to use. It is quite plain to me that this push to “get us on the buses” is an attempt by TTS to justify the gross mismanagement of public funds in financing public transport. And then tax us more to pay for it.

Revenue from taxation should be ring fenced for our roads and its infrastructure, and NOT given to Connex in increased subsidies. People have now made it perfectly clear to TTS that they will not use the buses anymore now than they did before.

For Constable Jackson to make comments like “Although a lot of people are entrenched in their ways” and

“I don’t read too much into it. People don’t like change but the department is working towards making alternatives to using the car more attractive”

So who is Constable Jackson expecting to give up the use of their car first? All States Members get FREE parking so do not have to worry about the stress of commuting and parking in town. Will they be setting an example for everyone else to follow? Giving up their parking spaces and getting the bus to town?

As Constable Jackson is putting forward these proposals will he be announcing that he will be the first States Member to give up the use of his car and commute to work everyday by using the bus? I would certainly like to see some of our States Members waiting in the freezing cold on the bus stops on my way to work. The weather at the time of writing this (Jan 3rd 2010) is +3 degrees outside.

Incidentally whilst were talking about this subject, Christmas has now been and gone. I have had no problems getting to work simply because the schools have been closed. As TTS have stated before, the schools are the problem and we get a 15% reduction in car usage when they are closed.

My advice….sort out the school bus service first…build some more car parks for commuter traffic and reduce public expenditure. I had also been asked to attend a meeting this month with regards my submission to the TTS survey.