'Short-sighted', 'a sad day for the student experience': Dismay as university axes bus service

The service, which runs between the university's campuses in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Telford, will come to an end from July 31.

The university said each bus trip costs around £10 to run which makes it "difficult to justify", but people commenting on social media accused the university of a futile gesture and short-sightedness.

Beckie Garner said the service had been vital during her time at the university and said it would affect both students and staff.

She said: "This was imperative during both my degrees. The savings they will make will be futile because they will lose more students.

"Using public transport is not as simple for some so will alienate some students from attending the uni.

"Furthermore, I’ve seen staff also using this service - some either don’t drive or drive to the free car parks attached to Walsall or Telford.

"This means all they are doing is passing the costs down onto their already depleted staff."

Dave Clare felt it was a sad day for students who were about to lose a well-used service.

He said: "I used to use it years ago.

"It was justified because the university had multiple campuses (Wolverhampton, Compton, Walsall, Telford, Burton) and wanted to help students who had to travel regularly between campuses.

"It was always well used and much appreciated. A sad day for 'the student experience'."

Kelli Carter spoke about the costs that would be incurred by students from the loss of the service.

She said: "£4/£5 per day to park in the Molineux Car Park. £100 a month based on a full time student parking their car. It’s a lot of money for a student.

"I always relied on the shuttle buses. They were a great resource, especially students who don’t drive and the trains being so unreliable these days."

Jackie Fletcher said she would have found the service useful when she was studying at the university, having had to pay for public transport.

She said: "Had to use and pay for the public bus service when I was there to go over to the Dudley campus for lectures (a few years back).

"Shame it's going as I would have found that very useful."

Stuey Brice-Ellis accused the university of short-sightedness and said the justification given by the institution would hurt it in the long run.

He said: "How about this for justification: some folks see that there is a service available to get them from one campus to another and they get excited about signing up to Wolverhampton University, and then they sign up.

"If you're looking for smart students, they will work out how much it costs for them to get themselves about and realise its not worth the added cost and not sign up.

"And consider the cost of having a vehicle and living in or near the city centre, again, not worth it for students on a budget.

"Short-sightedness on behalf of the university will end up bring a bad thing for the uni and the city itself."