Don’t stop the 2 bus from Hopping: maintain the 2 bus service at three buses an hour

Don’t stop the 2 bus from Hopping: maintain the 2 bus service at three buses an hour.

A plea to Stagecoach (South West), to restore the regular three buses an hour to and from Exeter and Dawlish and Teignmouth, and to introduce an express bus service which only calls at bus-stops on the A379 during peak commuting times.

The current bus timetable, which commenced on 3rd January 2017, features a drastically-reduced bus service between Dawlish and Exeter, especially during the peak commuting times.

For people who work in Exeter between the Topsham Road, Barrack Road, Heavitree Road, and the Exeter bus station, the two buses an hour during peak times is an insult to hard-working people who are suffering from having to stand on double-decker buses.

Similarly, for the schoolchildren and young people who use the ‘Hop 2’ bus * to attend schools and colleges in Exeter, many of which are accessed along Barrack Road, and Heavitree Road.

(The 2b bus service does not service these bus-stops.)

The cuts in service greatly affects not only the working population of Teignmouth, Kingsteignton, Bishopsteignton, Dawlish, Cockwood, Starcross, Kenton, and Exminster, who use the ‘Hop 2’ service to get to and from work, for example at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital – both sites, and at Devon County Council’s HQ at Topsham Road; the school-children and young people who use the Hop2 service to get to and from school or college.

The cuts in the 2 service affects all sections of the communities of Dawlish, Cockwood, Kenton, Starcross, Bishopsteignton, Kingsteignton, and Teignmouth; not only from the reduction in the number of buses on in the reduced Hop2 service, but also from the resultant over-crowding of the buses that are running on the 2 bus service.

If, as Stagecoach maintain, the route is not commercially viable, we urge that instead of cutting the service, that Stagecoach South West looks at ways of making the 2 bus service viable.

If a town in East Devon is allowed to maintain its service of four buses an hour, we urge that Stagecoach explore options to better the current service, and increase viability for the Hop2 bus service, for example with express buses that only stop at bus-stops on the main route, the A379.

The people of Dawlish, Teignmouth, Kingsteignton, Bishopsteignton, Starcross, Cockwood, and Kenton, deserve equal treatment. Furthermore, with all the new housing developments, planned and in progress, there are many more people looking for ways to get to work, the shops, and to colleges.

We urge that Devon County Council keeps to its plans for sustainable transport for all, and to work with the Stagecoach, the local bus operator to improve the public transport bus service in the Hop 2 area. A well-maintained, Hop2 bus service, with increased efficiency, and an express bus service, will increase opportunities for all in our communities.

We, the undersigned urge that Stagecoach improves the current Hop2 bus service, with an express bus service and 3 buses an hour during peak commuting times and the busy season on the number 2 route.

‘Hop 2’ bus is the name that is used on all vehicles running on the 2 bus service route. *