May Referendum

Should the Union campaign for Better Burley Buses?

Proposer name:

Will Noble

Idea Title:

Should the Union campaign for Better Burley Buses?

What the idea is about:

The Union should expand its student bus campaign to people living along and near the Burley Road (49/50/50A) and Cardigan Road (19/19A), including:

*A £1 fare from Town to Cardigan Road.

*A £1 fare from Town to St. James' Hospital.

*A more punctual and frequent bus service for all buses along the Burley Road.

*Support Metro's Quality Bus Contract, and lobby to have it applied to the Burley and Otley Roads first, with the intention of a cheaper bus service for students.

Why have you proposed it?:

The Better Buses campaign has started to work for Headingley, but buses along the Burley Road, where six halls and multiple houses are located, remain exceedingly poor: often, buses will simply not turn up, and when they do, they are nearly always late and overcrowded.

Worse still, people travelling from outside Sainsbury's to Opal/Concept Place/Sentinel Towers/the Tannery (just under a mile) have to pay a staggering £2 for their bus when Centrebus can run people from the Uni to those halls for £1. For people who do their shopping in town, this represents a penalty just for having shopping.

Thankfully, Metro are looking towards introducing London-style bus contracts in the next few years, but these will take time to implement. While lobbying First for better buses along Burley, the Union should also campaign for those contracts to be rolled out along the Otley and Burley Roads for a better student bus service.