Aberystwyth seems to cycle relatively quickly through boom and bust periods with regards its buses: every now and then, Arriva ups the frequencies of its routes and extends the running hours, only to cut everything back again six months or so later, ostensibly due to few or no people using these new services (certainly last time I caught the soon-to-be-axed 0500 40 service from Aber to Carmarthen, it was just me and the driver as far as Lampeter).
On the face of it, one can't particularly blame them for dropping services that don't attract enough passengers, but they never seem all that keen to promote the routes - you know, by telling people about them and stuff. Anywhere else, I'd expect to see details of routes, frequencies and saver tickets plastered all over the sides of the buses, yet Arriva seems reluctant do anything so vulgar as to advertise its services. It also doesn't help that most of the (largely tendered) services run by local, competing operators tend to be a little cheaper than Arriva.
All in all, one is left with the impression that Arriva's rapidly losing the little interest it ever had in Aberystwyth, even along what six months ago was considered the "flagship" 40 route to Carmarthen. Local competitors are only too eager to use every service change or price rise to stick the boot in to Arriva, who never seem all that bothered about answering these criticisms.
Certainly this latest bout of cuts - some of the more drastic we've seen in recent times - will do nothing to bolster Arriva's standing in the town. The way things are going, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Arriva scales back on - or even gives up on - local town services in the not-too-distant future.