States want car usage to be cut and bus use to rise

We regularly ask people for their views on a wide range of issues on radio, television and online.
Issues ranging from chewing gum on the pavement and dog mess to the human rights law and tax evasion.
Transport in the island is a subject that gets many people heated, with plenty of strong feelings from both drivers and pedestrians.
Jersey's transport minister wants to reduce the peak hour traffic in St Helier and get more people on the bus.
The transport and technical services department has already started to make some changes to the bus service to make life easier.
There are new circular routes, better times for commuters and an early bus to the airport in the morning.
The States will be installing countdown timers at the airport to make things easier still for travellers.
The timers will enable passengers to see how long they have to wait for their next bus.

The transport minister wants a reduction in car use by 2015

It is a service that is currently run in European cities, such as London and Germany.
Deputy Kevin Lewis, assistant transport and technical services minister, said there are other services available to islanders.
He said that the text my bus service allows islanders to see when their next bus is going to arrive by texting a code to 66556.
There are also plans to build six new bus shelters around the island and work will begin before Christmas.
The first place to benefit is Longbeach in Grouville and soon after others will be built at Bel Royal, St Clement and St Lawrence.
The Jersey hopper bus could also be making a comeback when the bus contract is renewed in 2012.
The hopper was a town bus service that people could simply hop onto or off where they liked.
Deputy Kevin Lewis said they wanted to see the service introduced.
"The hopper bus we are pushing very, very hard for and that will be part of the new contract, so however gets the new contract, it will include a hopper bus."
Deputy Daniel Wimberley said there has been an increase in the number of people using the Connex bus service recently.

The States of Jersey want to reduce traffic around St Helier by 15% by 2015

The money made from fares is being used to improve the service.
It includes more comfortable seats, more leg room and, on some routes, a double-decker bus may soon be introduced.
Deputy Wimberley said: "I think that if we do this right and have more people using the busses, and more people are using the busses already.
"Deputy Lewis is saying 'we are improving this route' and 'we are improving that route', those improvements are being paid for because people are using the busses."
But what else could be done to make the life of a commuter using the bus easier?
In Guernsey they have a flat fare system - you pay £1 for any journey anywhere in the island and it gets cheaper with a Ormer card.
You pay £1 for the Ormer card and then buy journeys in bulk, so if you buy 50 journeys they cost 75p a journey, or 75 journeys will cost you 50p.
You then just show the card to the driver.
Another idea, suggested by a caller to BBC Jersey, was for each parish to run a bus service, with volunteer drivers, going around the smaller roads within the parish. (from BBC)