IT’S a pity that your article “Drivers hit by 16 months of jams” and accompanying advice from Oxfordshire County Council for commuters to travel by bus (June 10), coincided with the decision by the Oxford Bus Company to reduce the frequency of the 4, 4A and 4B buses between Cumnor and Wood Farm.

Your correspondent (June 9) well describes the misery for those having to stand on overcrowded buses crawling down Botley Road. The bus company gives as its reason for reducing the timetable the unreliability of journey times caused by the roadworks around the Westgate area and Frideswide Square.

Hello? Anyone there? What became of the once much-trumpeted partnership between the county council and the Oxford Bus Company? Jams yesterday, jams tomorrow and certainly jams today.

Now we read that work on the Woodstock Road and Cutteslowe roundabouts is due to start next month and last well into 2016, while work on Frideswide Square isn’t due to end until December.Already traffic waiting to go down Botley Road frequently queues back to the interchange.

There is no more capacity within the road network for anything else to go wrong unexpectedly.

If all this really has to happen concurrently – and no convincing reason has been given – let’s avoid any “with hindsight” lamentation in 18 months’ time by getting all the planning done thoroughly now.

How many members of the county council’s cabinet represent people living in or immediately around the city and going through this wretchedness month after month? Oh, none. That’s funny.

JANET GODDEN
Oxfordshire County Council, North Hinksey division
Hurst Rise Road, Oxford