I drove buses in this city for eleven years. I know the routes by heart, I know which stops flood in heavy rain, and I know exactly which junction on Harbour Road will make you late no matter what time you leave the depot.

So when councillors stood up on Monday night to celebrate plans to bring trains back to the Riverside line by 2030, I was pleased. I was. Northfield deserves better transport, and I hope I'm proved wrong about every doubt I have.

But I also thought about the people I used to drive. The ones who are standing at bus stops tonight, in the rain, waiting for a bus that the timetable says is due and the screen says is "delayed," and that will, quite possibly, not come at all.

They can't wait until 2030.

Who rides the bus

There is a persistent idea that buses are a last resort — something people use until they can afford a car. In my experience, that's not who rides the bus at all.

It's the care worker doing four home visits across the city before lunch. It's the hospital cleaner whose shift starts at six in the morning. It's the teenager getting to college, the pensioner getting to the doctor, the young mum taking her children to nursery before work. It's people who can't drive, people who can't afford to and people who simply shouldn't have to.

These are the people who keep this city running. And they are being let down every single day.

These are the people who keep this city running. And they are being let down every single day.

What's gone wrong

Over the past decade, route after route has been cut, merged or reduced in frequency. Evening and Sunday services have been hit hardest. In some parts of Westbrook and Eastgate, the last bus into the city centre leaves before eight o'clock in the evening. If your shift finishes at ten, you're on your own.

Reliability has suffered too. When I was driving, we regularly ran late because of congestion, roadworks and too few drivers to cover every shift. Talk to anyone who uses the buses today, and they'll tell you it's worse. A timetable is only a promise if people believe it.

And because buses are less reliable, fewer people use them. Because fewer people use them, they earn less money. Because they earn less money, services are cut. It's a slow, downward spiral, and we have been sliding down it for years.

What would help

The good news is that we know what works, because other cities have done it.

Bus lanes that are actually enforced. A bus carrying sixty people should not be stuck behind a queue of single-occupancy cars. Harbour Road needs a continuous bus lane, and it needs cameras.

Evening and weekend services that match real working hours. Shift workers, hospitality staff and carers don't work nine to five. Our buses shouldn't stop at eight.

Simple, affordable fares. Every time you have to work out which ticket you need, you're less likely to take the bus. A single flat fare across the city, with daily caps, would make life simpler for everyone.

Real-time information you can trust. Screens at stops should tell the truth. If a bus has been cancelled, say so.

Proper pay and conditions for drivers. We can't run more buses without more drivers, and we won't recruit or keep them without decent wages, sensible shifts and respect.

None of this is glamorous. None of it will make headlines like a new railway line. But all of it could be done much sooner than 2030, and all of it would help far more people.

A question of priorities

I'm not arguing against the Riverside line. I'm arguing that we can't let a big, exciting project distract us from the small, unglamorous ones that make the most difference to the most people right now.

Councillors will tell you that the council doesn't run the buses, and that's true. Services are run by operators, and the council's powers are limited. But it has more influence than it sometimes admits — over bus lanes, over road space, over funding for supported routes and over how loudly it argues for change. I'd like to see it use all of them.

Ride with us

So here's my challenge to every councillor who voted on Monday night. Before the next budget meeting, leave the car at home for a week. Take the bus to work, to the shops, to the council chamber. Try the last bus from Westbrook on a Tuesday night. Wait at the stop on Mill Lane in the rain.

Then come back and tell us that the buses can wait until 2030.

Grace Otieno is a community organiser and former bus driver. Her column appears fortnightly. Views expressed are her own. To respond, write to letters@wire.example.com.