'At long last!' Councillor welcomes untangling of town's park and ride bus from other services

A new dedicated park and ride service will mean that visitors to Ludlow can park their cars outside of town at the Eco Park and be shuttled straight to the middle of town without going round the houses.

"Ludlow will at long last have a dedicated park and ride service, with an express shuttle running to and from the town centre via the station," said Councillor Andy Boddington.

Fares on the park and ride in Ludlow and Shrewsbury are set to be reduced at least temporarily to £1.

Councillor Boddington says the 722 service will be 'freed up' from serving the Eco Park base of the park and ride which he hopes will allow it to keep to better time.

"The 701 service will be improved with 'a new 702' service," he added in response to a strategy released by Shropshire Council last week.

"No details of routes or times are yet available but there is mention in one document of serving the new developments in the town."

The councillor has welcomed the improvements to bus services in Ludlow as "significant" along with improvements to bus services elsewhere in the county.

The changes are due to be introduced over a three- to four-month period from August 2024.

Also included is a plan to develop a new app that can be used to book journeys, plan routes and more across the entire Shropshire local bus network.

"This is expected to be Citymapper," said Councillor Boddington.

"This provides real time information on the progress of buses, so if a bus is late people will know. It is estimated that by 2025, 98 per cent of adults will have a smartphone, including more than 85 per cent of those over 65 years of age.

"For those that don’t have a smartphone, the odds are that someone else waiting will. This will bring an end to one of the worst things about making a bus journey - not knowing whether the bus is coming or not, and when it is coming."

These improvements are funded by £1.8m of Network North funding awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT). The schemes are part of Shropshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.

But Councillor Boddington says there is a potential dark cloud on the horizon if the government does not continue with the current £2 fare cap.

"I don’t wish to scare people," he said in his blog, "but... single bus journeys in Ludlow are currently capped at £2 - too expensive in my view.

"The government-subsidised fare cap scheme is due to end at the end of 2024.

"At that point, unless the new government introduces a similar scheme, single fares in Ludlow will rise to between £3 and £5.

"And that is for just one mile!

"Only two services operate fully commercially at present. If the new government doesn’t come up with new money for running services, many services in the county will be withdrawn and others will be running at a reduced frequency."

The councillor says a budget statement is expected in the autumn to learn the fate of Ludlow’s and Shropshire’s bus services.

"Until then, it is good news," he adds.

"These plans will help move our county and Ludlow towards a more sustainable transport service.

"Eventually, if funding is forthcoming, villages that have long been cut off from buses will get a service.

"Large villages such as Ditton Priors and smaller villages and hamlets will be served by a Demand Responsive Service which will be known as Shropshire Connect."