Council pulls plug on replacement buses
A town's councillors are putting the brakes on a bus service started up after another was axed – after passenger numbers fell far short of what was needed to make it a success.
Stone Town Council stepped in to fund a trial bus scheme after D&G Bus pulled the plug on its routes serving Walton, Aston Lodge, Cherryfields and Stonefield in July because they were not commercially viable. The axe came just months after a cut in funding from local authorities.
The three-month trial scheme, which began in October, offered four return services a week – one each for Walton, Aston Lodge, Cherryfields and Stonefield – and was run in conjunction with Community Link Stafford & District.
But last week Stone Town Council heard that the number of passengers using the services had been well below what was needed to continue after the trial period.
Several passengers who had boarded the buses to town had not used the return service – scheduled for two hours later. Reasons included meeting family and friends in town who had taken them home; catching another bus to Hanley or Trentham; using a taxi to get home if they had been shopping at Morrisons or getting a taxi home because they needed to spend longer than two hours in the town centre.
Councillor Kristan Green said: “I wonder if people got used to getting a taxi and that is what they are doing now. If three people are getting a taxi it’s quite reasonable.”
The meeting was told that the cost to the town council of funding the bus service for a year would be £11,000. If the bus service was continued by the council for a year it would have to be funded by a four per cent increase to the precept paid by Stone households as part of their annual council tax bill.
Each return journey taken has cost £17 on average – resulting in a £13 subsidy after taking into account the fare paid by the passenger. This cost more than the equivalent taxi fare, the council has said.
Councillor Jim Davies said: “Is it right that the residents of Stone should be paying £11,000 to subsidise a bus service so little used? We haven’t got a huge budget in this council – is this the best use of money?
“It would be lovely to have a bus going round but there is no way we can afford to do that.”
Councillors agreed to stop the bus service at the end of January.
Arrangements are being made to refund the £7 membership fee paid by passengers to community link so they could use the service.
Councillor Jill Hood said: “I’m heartbroken we haven’t got the take-up we expected. I also realise the service we provide is nowhere near adequate to provide a reasonable service for people wanting to come into town.
“We have tried our hardest and I’m just very sad that it has not worked. We can’t afford a bus service.
“In my opinion we have given it a fair chance.”
By Kerry Ashdown
