Bedford and Milton Keynes buses to Cranfield

There is, apparently a threat to the Sunday V2 buses from Bedford to Cranfield under the current Central Beds budget strategy. I also believe the 17/17A  from Cranfield to MK might be affected by budget cuts. 

Many people will be affected by this. But the loss of buses in and out on a Sunday would be a further 'kettling' of the university campus and village-based student population who are not rich enough to own a car. I have asked the CSA president if some students could attend the parish council meeting tonight to explain how this will impact them. Here are some articles from the latest  Cranfield Student newspaper ENTROPY about the problem, which is bad enough without any further worsening of the situation. 

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Transport Services Under
Scrutiny 

Drawbacks of Being a Villager

by Shawn Mendes

I am one of the numerous students who stay in the village. And geting to university is a chore.

I have paid a substantial amount as tuition, which surely includes all the facilities that the university has to offer (in addition to the course) – a library, sports center, gym, chapel, free fast internet access; just to name a few. But I do not have the opportunity to maximize the use of the University’s facilities, just because I am a villager!

To get to an 8:45 lecture I have to catch one of the three buses that comearound 8:10 am. The 8:25 am bus is never on time and generally one would arrive late only to be welcomed into the class by the rolling eyes of the lecturer.

There have been times when the bus has come early, with me running behind it - but I ain’t no Flash Gordon so the options are – if there is time, retreat to the house and wait for an hour and if not, walk or cycle to the university or call my expensive fairy godmother (Ezeecabs) and ask them to send me a chariot to whiz me to the University for the class.

While frequency is one issue, price is another. I pay 0.5 pounds for a one-way trip between the village and the university. Whereas a one-way trip from Xscape Centre in Milton Keynes to the University is 0.3 pounds to the mile (if not free owing to the shuttle).

It is a good gesture that the university has a free shuttle to Milton Keynes for those from the university who want to get to civilization, but what about those in the villages around the university who just want to get to the university for a class or to study in the library.

My clock strikes twelve at precisely 8:25 pm, that is when the last bus leaves the University for the village. This means one has to wrap up all group discussions and projects prior to that and if I overshoot or have the urge to study in the productive environment of the library then I must be ready to shell out 10 pounds to get back home which is not more than 2 miles from the university.

There are various solutions to this challenge. Communication with the different bus services to spread their service timings or maybe the university could have a shuttle that runs through the village (I don’t have the figures but am certain that a sizable portion of the students live in Cranfield village without a car).

While talking around, I was also told that a couple of years ago there was an 11:30 pm bus from the University to the village and onwards – what happened to that service and is there something we can do as a collective student body to reinstate that service?

Waiting for Prince Charming

by Simtan Bacha

by Simtan BachaLiving off campus isn’t bad. Cranfield Village is safe, student friendly and not too far from the University; but for all its pros, the biggest and most glaring fault lies in the fact that the bus services aren’t up to the mark. 

There are 3 different bus services that one can take to get to University from Cranfield Village. The bus ticket is £ 1, £ 1.10 or £ 1.20 depending on which service you use. There isn’t a standard bus pass that we can buy, as there are 3 services. Buying a bus pass for either of these services isn’t a good idea as then your limiting yourself to one bus service and sometimes that may involve waiting around as the frequency is poor.

In order to make it in time for 

an 8:45 AM class, most of us aim to get the 8:10 AM bus when all it takes is 5 minutes to get to the university. Why? The only other option is 8:35 AM which is cutting it too close. On most days, we’re lucky if the bus is 5 minutes late, but on some days it doesn’t show up at all or shows up and we are told, 

“IT’S BROKEN DOWN, THE REPLACEMENT BUS SHOULD BE HERE SOON.” 

How soon, you ask; 10 minutes is the answer you get – which in your mind you know is really 20 minutes. 

The last bus leaving the university is 8:25 PM (this is also dependent on the driver’s whim and fancy and might leave earlier or later). So if you have to wait back for work or you would like to study in the library or just generally have a drink and unwind with your friends, then you have to be ready to cough up £10 to get yourself home.

To give the services credit, the drivers are all very helpful and friendly and drive safely, but that won’t make up for the time you lost waiting or the toes you lost due to frost bite!

Most girls are waiting for Prince Charming to come along; this girl’s just waiting for a bus to show up – on time.

My Experience in Marston Moretaine

by Divya Nayar

I stay in Marston Moretaine which is 10 minutes from the village, and a 15 minutes bus ride to reach the University. The challenge is, there is only 1 Bus service for us (V1) and the timings are pretty scattered. The first bus is at 7:10 AM and if you miss that the next one is at 8:15AM and the bus is always LATE. So, to avoid the risk of being late for the 8.45 AM class, we usually take the 7.15 AM bus which means getting up early and reaching University early, and trust me, its not a very good idea!

Also, the last bus that leaves from the university is 7.15PM which does not leave any room for us to stay back for ANYTHING.