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Not the reference I was looking for but Phil Davies said ...

Bit dodgy Quoting the snake oil salesman (U turn Phil) to make a point DD.

Its politics, difficult to avoid factual lubricant in that world.

Oil the facts with snake oil the reptiles love it. (Likely to get less money)is not a fact but a get out clause.Objective One phase two is a better description for what we are about to squander again.

Ample transport used to go past the town centre from outlying areas and Woodside had numerous routes going from there to the town centre. The fares weren't so horrendously expensive either. It was a big shock to come back to the town after being away for years and seeing the way everything was turned upside down. I include the siting of Wallasey for the town hall (only one bus passes there from the Birkenhead side of the docks and if that's a centralised thinking ploy then I'm a Dutchman, and I don't mean Dutch Eddy either.) They just seem to me to have cocked everything up and their decision making doesn't auger well for a bigger authority in this area. Listened to Radio Merseyside and Joe going on about it and this side of the river hardly got a mention, we've been erased already.

Part of that?
No chance, this is Wirral and I'm proud of it.

To return to the Woodside question: when it was the main bus terminus we had not only the frequent ferries but also the rail station. Apart from that, it was busy because of the thriving businesses in the Hamilton Square area and a thriving dock area; (who remembers when you could hardly move along Shore Road for all the traffic)? with the lairage, Grayson Rollo & Clover and lots of small but important businesses employing many people, the vast majority of whom didn't own cars and actually used the buses. The situation now is totally different: there's no point having a bus terminus in an area of relative desolation.

Precisely, you remove the infrastructure and the place becomes more desolate - if the infrastructure returns then the area will attract more. First the national station went, then the buses, then the ferries.

But in reality there are a lot of people still work in that area.

Cheshire lines, College, Woodside Business Park and at least one of the CSA or Land Registry buildings is still in use (if not both) and numerous businesses along Canning St and Bridge St area.

I guess one problem is that the A41 is routed to the A554 down Canning St these day.

And I'll bet most of them have cars; that's the big difference.

Hence the plethora of car parks instead of buildings.

I've got to admit with bus fares and bus routes these days its not hard to choose between car or bus.

I have to say that when, occasionally, I come up for the day, I'm amazed at how comprehensive the bus services on Wirral seem to be. The idea of a service from Liverpool to West Kirby every 15 minutes is impressive. I've no idea about prices; I use my old farts' bus pass.

Refreshing to see the opinion of a fresh eye on the bus service. It is probably even better than you have observed Chris. Smaller buses go on the estates picking people up vertually from their front doors. We tend to moan about the things we take for granted, me included. It may not be perfect but I think we should recognise the fact we have an excellent bus service.

Heaven forbid that anyone should have to walk as far as a bus stop. eh? Best municipal transport I've ever come across was and is Berlin. Magnificent.

Agree on Berlin transport, amazingly simple and effective.

Ok, firstly I will admit its about 7 years ago since I examined the bus routes and things do seem to have improved. At that time I had a lot of long conversations with the bus co-ordinator about school routes. There was a ridiculous problem of kids getting left at bus stops because buses were full, and the kids were going backwards up the route further and further to try and get on the bus. He had no direct control over the bus companies, routes or bus stop locations, the bus companies did what they liked.

There are 19 different bus numbers go through the tunnel which sounds great but many of those services are splintered and what is the point of competing with trains - a bit more integration and coordination would be better.

The 420 and 437 go from West Kirby to Liverpool. Most of the day the 437 is every 10 minutes, the 420 happens once a day. A service that runs once a day in one direction only has got to be wrong.

There are no less than 29 bus numbers go past Woodchurch Bridge which to me is a sign of chaos.

The 473 goes from Barnston to Liverpool there are only three buses a day, all before 7am and no return. After 9pm the 472 (Liverpool-Heswall) is extended to go to Barnston (but no times on timetables).

Other councils have re-instated council bus services which to my mind is much better than multiple companies doing whatever they like and demanding disproportionate subsidies for routes they don't want. At the very least the council should set all routes and times then tender those routes out (possibly grouping quiet routes with busy routes to cover the less popular routes).