Transport for Cornwall website R.I.P. - long live Cornwall by Bus
5 August 2024

In early 2022, Cornwall Council and the bus operators in Cornwall launched the website, Transport for Cornwall. Its stated aim was "Over the next 12 months we will be working to bring all your essential travel information together in one place with a website and app. It will include trains, buses and active travel options too.” More than two years later, that aim has simply not been achieved. No progress has been made on bringing the information together. The TfC website has frequently contained inaccurate information, e.g. about tap and cap, and failed to be updated in a timely manner when timetables and/or prices changed. It was never clear who was actually responsible for maintaining the website - I never managed to get a definitive answer from Cornwall Council or Go Cornwall Bus as to which, if either, of them was in charge of it. It was clearly never a priority for either of them.

In July this year, I pointed out to Cornwall Council particular issues and received a response of "We are aware of technical issues with the site and we are working on resolving this.” Two days later, the website went offline. It is now clear that the Transport for Cornwall website has been closed down - like the parrot in Monty Python it has ceased to be, it has shuffled off this mortal coil.

In its place has arisen a new website, www.cornwallbybus.co.uk. The domain was registered on 24 July and came online about a week later. However, this website is not the one promised that would "bring all your essential travel information together in one place”. The TfC website was described by the portfolio holder for transport as a “microsite". If Transport for Cornwall was a microsite, then Cornwall by Bus is probably best described as a nanosite. It contains virtually no information of any use for bus passengers:
• the section on fares contains a couple of examples of fares but no link to where the total information can be found
• there is no reference to tap and cap or to purchasing fares via bus operator apps
• there is no link to the timetables despite there being a Transport for Cornwall branded full timetable available as a full colour printed booklet or downloadable from other sources
• there is no longer any reference to trains
• there is no longer a reference to the bus passenger charter
Instead, the new website contains advice such as “When your bus approaches, hold out your arm so the driver knows to stop for you”. Really?
In the FAQs section, “Where can I find a map of the full Cornwall bus network?” there is a link to the now deceased TfC website. Not very helpful!

Overall, it is clear that Cornwall Council has given up on the idea of the professed aim of the original Transport for Cornwall website. The new website is so bland and so minimal in its content that it seems to be in existence merely to tick a box to say that there is a website for buses in Cornwall and to justify the “Funded by HM Government” message at the bottom of the site.

it should be noted that neither Cornwall Council nor Go Cornwall Bus has put any message on its websites or Twitter feeds or anywhere else (as far as I can see) to announce the death of Transport for Cornwall and the birth of Cornwall by Bus. I found out about the new website a couple of days ago, but, for reasons of confidentiality, I cannot divulge how I found it.

Update
9 August 2024
In the last 24 hours, the Transport for Cornwall website has miraculously reappeared online. See resurrection.