More than 640 people sign a petition to save a popular South Tyneside bus service
A petition has been launched to keep the number 17 bus service running.
Beth Coombe, from Whiteleas, has launched a petition urging Stagecoach to keep the number 17 bus service.
Under current plans, the number 17 will be withdrawn from Sunday, May 11, and its route will be “revised and consolidated” by merging it with the number 3.
Initially, the new route didn’t include the service travelling through Laygate, which the number 17 currently does; however, Stagecoach have since updated the route to include both Laygate and Stanhope Road.
At the time of writing, Beth’s petition has 644 signatures - she has told the Shields Gazette that the merging of the services will create problems for those who travel at peak times, in particular, during the school run.
The 32-year-old said: “I use the number 17 daily to take my son to nursery and it is the only service that will get me there.
“The number 3 is a very high-traffic bus and it will be difficult to get on it with a pushchair - it will be a nightmare.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to about this is gutted and they’ve been happy to sign the petition.
“The number 16 was removed from the Whiteleas area a few years ago and now they are taking the 17 away - it feels like Whiteleas is being left in the dust again.
“I want Stagecoach to leave the service as it is, merging it with other buses is just a pointless exercise.
“Getting on the number 3 first thing on a morning will be chaotic as there will be queues of people trying to get children to various schools.
“One service for the two estates, plus Stanhope Road is just ridiculous.”
According to the Stagecoach website, the number 17 is being withdrawn to “reflect reducing customer demands”.
The bus operator states that the new number 3 service will “continue to offer the same frequency from Whiteleas to South Shields town centre, of up to every 15 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes during evenings and Sundays.
You can view Beth’s petition by visiting: https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/stagecoach_stop_stagecoach_withdrawing_service_17/.
The Shields Gazette has contacted Stagecoach for a comment.