Fed up bus passengers opt for ‘guerilla graffiti’ to compensate for lack of timetable information

Twm Owen, local democracy reporter

Bus passengers have got so fed up with a lack of timetable information in their town they’ve taken to producing their own.

They’ve placed stickers at bus stops that anyone with a smart phone can scan to be taken to a website with timetable information compiled by volunteers.

“We started putting the QR code stickers up out of desperation,” said Tim Melville who is a coordinator for the Transition Chepstow group that aims to work towards making the town more environmentally friendly and sustainable including the promotion of public transport.

Lack of information 

Mr Melville said the group believes a lack of information is one of the reasons behind a drop in passenger numbers on buses in Monmouthshire.

“We have been asking Monmouthshire County Council when timetables for all the bus stops are going to be published for five years. The majority of bus stops do not have timetables on display, so how are people supposed to catch a bus if the timetable isn’t there?

The group has spent around £500 on the operation which Mr Meliville described as “guerilla graffiti” having grown frustrated with a lack of action from the council but said they have considered it worth it: “Some of the bus timetable information in Chepstow is over 25 years old.”

Positive feedback

He said the stickers are being used by phone users: “We’ve had very positive feedback from people who’ve said they’ve never seen information at their stop and these are people who use the buses regularly.”

The current stickers have been described as a “trial run” and Mr Melville said the group intends printing larger stickers with the aim of providing them at all bus stops in Chepstow.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said it does provide information, in conjunction with bus operators, at Chepstow bus station and “many local bus stops” but recognises further work is required.

They said: “Over the next year, we have plans to provide bus stop information at more local stops, add additional display cases at the bus station, and install real-time information displays at both the bus station and the Bulwark Shops stops.

“We are currently exploring further options to provide better bus information for Chepstow residents. We also plan to deliver further bus service improvements in the autumn.”