Being from a small, rural town in South Oxfordshire, I have always struggled to get around; the closest Tesco’s is 10 miles away, I travel 25 minutes every day to college, my parents work full time, and I cannot drive. Why should I be forced into isolation due to ineffective bus routes? 

Bus services bring multiple benefits: they are substantially cheaper than driving, more environmentally friendly, safe, and reliable. Imagine being deprived of an efficient transport solution simply due to where you live. Rural settlements should have good bus connections, to benefit the long-distance commuters - but on the contrary - in South Oxfordshire, the public transport services are bordering on abysmal.  

 

In Watlington, residents have long been clamouring for improved bus services. The only bus goes to Oxford City Centre via Stadhampton, and there are no other buses in any direction. Due to the town’s secondary school and residents moving into the new housing development, many students live in town and need to commute to college everyday (mostly in Thame, Wallingford, or Henley), and there is no easy way that is convenient and affordable. 

The local schools and colleges do provide private transport, such as the bus to The Henley College, but it comes at an often unaffordable £920 a year. Moreover, it leaves once a day at 08:05 AM, returns at 04:30 PM, and only during term time. This harshly limits the travel opportunities for students, who are stranded whenever the bus isn’t running. It’s also incredibly unfair on working parents, who are often forced to pay yearly school bus fees, and whose children rely on them to get around until they can drive. 

Despite this, recent and hopeful efforts have been made to improve the unsatisfactory transport connections in Watlington: £800,000 has been invested into providing the town with ‘vital bus links’, according to councillor Freddie van Mierlo in a leaflet by the local Liberal Democrat team. Whilst this is an excellent addition to transport in Watlington for some, to what extent does it benefit everyone who needs it? 

Three new buses have been organised to connect Watlington to Thame (via Lewknor) and Reading (via Nettlebed). The Thame bus will run two days a week, and the Reading bus - three. Though a definite improvement, perhaps the organisers of this new timetable did not consult a wide enough variety of implicated people. There is still no bus to Henley other than changing at Nettlebed, which isn’t even possible, as the bus from Watlington only arrives in Nettlebed after the bus to Henley has gone, indicating a lack of collaboration between bus companies. These new routes also seem to neglect the needs of certain members of the local communities, such as students or working adults with restrictive schedules. 

Bethan Rogers, a student attending Lord William’s School (Thame) said, “The route to Reading is completely ineffectual. It isn’t convenient at all, and my parents have to take time off to drive me to and from school”, suggesting that students may have been disregarded in this decision, despite the obvious improvements to the services. 

 

This is evidently a real concern to many people living in rural areas, particularly students or those who cannot drive. Hopeful action has already been taken to ameliorate the situation, and perhaps with additional funds, even more future improvements could be made to benefit the local communities living in these isolated areas, and to fully connect the small towns and villages that this country has such an abundance of.