I note from the comments on the petition on social media that some regard the situation at present as good enough. In particular it has been suggested that you can always get a taxi out to our communities and therefore don't need to get the bus service back.

Apart from the fact that using that logic we should get rid of all public transport and leave all travel to the private sector taxis, which is ridiculous, there are several obvious points to make:

1) Taxis are not cheap and many of us are in a cost of living crisis and could not afford them.

2) My experience and that of others is that we certainly cannot depend on getting a taxi during these hours. In particular if an event is on the demand for taxis is such that you have to wait a long time and on some occasions never will get a taxi.

3) Most taxis in Dumfries are private cars and you do not have to get a special licence to drive them as is the case with taxis in many towns and cities. Bus Drivers have to pass a PSV driving test and are on the whole good to excellent at their craft. Some taxi drivers can be rushed so they can make more money and some have other jobs and may be tired. 

4) Buses are necessary for disabled people, the elderly, groups of people who want or need to stay together. Buses are part of public transport, which we and our families and ancestors have paid for and it is our right to be provided with a decent and affordable bus service at least during the day and evening. In fact most UK cities and in many towns around the world you can get a bus even overnight.

5) This savage cut to the bus services to Locharbriggs and Heathhall is part of a long sequence of cuts and deterioration to buses in the region and all over the town. This is due to the privatisation of public services and the massive cuts to public transport provision caused by cuts to the taxation of very wealthy people and virtual freezes to their Council Tax bills over many years. We see the same cuts to our health housing and other public services by people who do not to need to use a bus, who have good privately owned houses and private medicine.

6) Obviously it causes much less damage to the environment to share transport in the form of buses rather than us all be in private cars.

No doubt everyone has their own story of how the removal of our bus services has impacted on their life so please share the petition and encourage others to do so and feel free to get in touch with anyone who might sign and ask them to do it.

Thanks!