These are our 2021 people.

It's a much longer list than we had in 2016. Those people are still here and still need the bus. But there are so many more too as we come out of lockdown and look to move further forward to a high quality and sustainable new normal.

It's not just about the buses - it's about the people who use the buses!

Here are the newcomers

Mr K now travels to his office 2 days a week rather than 5. With 4 journeys rather than 10 every week, he can afford to travel just a little slower, especially as it saves him so much in personal transport (car) costs.

Miss L is concerned about clean air and wants to travel as green as possible. She'll go by bus or train if only she can - especially if it's cheaper overall than running a car.

Family M are off to W this year on the South Coast for a holiday. Rather than have the nightmare of a car in the congested streets of this port, they're going by train then using the bus to get around locally.

Mrs N will commute to her work by bus and train once they connect at her local station.

Mr O finds that he can think, relax, read on the bus - quality time that's lost when he's behind the wheel of a car.

Ms P used to drive to the station - or sometimes all the way to work in Y. Increasing costs such as car parking, and the availability of a connecting bus from the end of her street, mean that she's now using that integrated transport.

Mr Q now takes the bus. He used to drive, but finds that even the short walk to the bus stop helps him keep fit and now that the bus takes him where we wants, he uses it regularly.

Mr R makes a short journey but not on a direct transport route. Interchangeable tickets, integrated information and the filling of some service gaps will make his total journey practical by public transport - and he's delighted.

Miss S has found employment as a bus driver. She loves meeting all (well - most) of her passengers and helping the economy and quality of life with the service she's helping to provide.

And this is not to overlook our loyal (often by necessity) existing customer base - see (here) for where they were in 2016. We will update some of the stories below in due course to let you know how they have got on in the intervening 5 years.

Mrs A can no longer drive. She relies on the bus to get her from her home into the town centre where she meets friends and does her shopping.

Mr B works in X. He's unable to drive for medical reasons, and commutes by bus every day; sometimes he has to work late and catch a bus back in the early evening.

The C family send their daughter to school in Z - a journey of about 6 miles. It's not their nearest school, but it's the right one for her and she gets there by bus.

Miss D and her college friends want to meet up for a 'social' at the weekend or an evening; due to high insurance premiums none of them can afford a car, and in any case they want to be able to enjoy the evening without having to be awake (and sober) enough to drive safely home afterwards.

Mr E will be retiring in about 7 years - he's getting on a bit, shakey on his legs, and can no longer walk to the local railway station without it leaving him so tired he can't do his job properly.

Mrs F no longer has a bus to get to her doctors, so now she requires home visits.

Ms G had planned to go to college this September with a view to getting qualified and back into employment, but she's had to put these plans on hold because the bus that would get her home at the end of the college day doesn't run any more.

Mr H doesn't use the bus at all. But he can't get a car parking space in town / at work any longer as all the spaces are filled with people who used to use public transport, so he gets very frustrated and parks in residential streets to the annoyance of those residents.

Ms I is a health service / social services administrator, and she notices a severe strain on her 'customer transport' budget because she's now spending a lot of money (and organisation time) and arranging and paying for customers who used to use the bus.