A Dundee City Council bus stop consultation has been condemned as inaccessible and undemocratic.
The Dundee Civic Trust (DCT) has “fundamental concerns” about the consultation process.
It was launched in mid April and could see dozens of bus stops across Dundee scrapped.
Dundee City Council is responsible for approximately 1,000 of the city’s bus stops.
And the local authority’s sustainable transport team is consulting on proposals to cut the number of stops on the city’s network by around 100.
The council hopes this will improve journey times in “principal bus corridors”.
These are routes where reduced journey times have the greatest potential to encourage increased bus use.
Councillors, bus companies and community groups have been consulted on the plans.
The proposals also include merging two existing stops in a more central location.
However, the DCT says it was not consulted. It also insists that members of the public have not been given a proper opportunity to air their views.
Dundee Civic Trust claims bus passengers voices are not being heard
In a letter seen by The Courier, the trust said: “This gives no consideration to the wider reasons for slow public transport.
“The nature of the consultation process excludes Dundee citizens and commuters from having a genuine opportunity to make their voices heard.
“This consultation does not meet the high standard that is vital to implementing democracy in action.
“There is no recognised or published ‘route’ for them (the public) to air their views.
“A senior council official has confirmed that there are no plans to give these seriously affected people any better means of consulting.
“There will be no public meetings and no information has been placed on affected bus stops.
“Publicity from the Council was issued only to a few selected community groups.”
Donald Gordon is the DCT chairman. He does not believe the proposed cuts address the key public transport issues in Dundee.
“Bus users are not being included in the consultation and they are the very people who should be included”, he says.
“And they are the ones who probably know least about it.”
Mr Gordon argues that elderly people, young parents, students and those with disabilities will be most impacted by the potential removal of bus stops.
“If this is meant to reduce journey times, it will mean that bus passengers are going to have to walk longer distances.
“It means the total journey time for passengers who are inconvenienced is going to be increased.
“Many bus routes are circuitous and not well planned. These could be made rather more efficient.
“Bus lanes and reduced parking would help journey times. Delays in boarding hold up buses significantly.
“Streamlining the boarding process would assist journey time.”
Council seeks to improve journey times for Dundee bus users
The DCT has been supportive of many previous Dundee City Council consultations, but sees this one as an outlier.
An initial deadline for consultation responses of May 16 was pushed back by the council to May 31 earlier this month.
But the trust argues this is still too short a timescale.
The DCT letter adds: “The groups who were approached have had to investigate the complex proposals and then consult with their own members and stakeholders.
“Even the extended period of six weeks is insufficient for many groups to form well-balanced views.”
Elected members unanimously approved the local authority’s Sustainable Transport Delivery Plan in September 2023.
It highlights the number of bus stops and proximity of stops as a significant factor in increased journey times.
The Dundee City Council document said this “contributes to slower journeys, greater dwell time and constraints bus services in competing successfully with the private car”.
“It is now recognised that there are too many bus stops on key corridors in the city.”
The plan argues ideal distance between bus stops is approximately 400 metres.
According to the council’s own figures, 40% of Dundee households do not have access to a car.
Xplore Dundee are the main operator of urban buses in the city, carrying around 35,000 passengers every day.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The council is currently consulting on the option to improve bus journey reliability and end to end journey times through a careful review of its existing bus stop infrastructure.
“The council is reaching out to community groups, bus operators and equality/access groups to gather their views and all feedback.
“Any final decisions about bus stop provision will be reported to the relevant council committee for consideration of approval.”
Conversation