LOCAL residents joined councillors last week to fight Alton's corner against Cango's bid to slash its special bright-yellow bus service. With routes to be axed from early June, there was concern in particular over the dropping of the Basingstoke Hospital service, with one councillor dubbing it the "can't go" service. The plea from many attending East Hampshire District Council's north west area community committee meeting was for more, not less, rural coverage and for evening services for the young. Launched in September 2004, Cango's demand-led bus service is funded until March 2007 through the government's Rural Bus Challenge initiative. According to Hampshire Passenger Transport team representative June Armstrong, an annual review and revaluation of the service in December 2005 revealed a clear pattern of patronage which is to be used to streamline the service down from a three to a two-vehicle operation. The aim is to ensure the longer- term sustainability of the service by reducing the contract price, and hence the subsidy per passenger trip, to a more acceptable level for any future funder. It means that the C40 commuter service from Four Marks to Alton Railway Station will be axed and the C44 which runs from Alton to the Froyle and Binsted areas will be reduced from five daily services to three, with an afternoon service only on a Saturday. The C41 and C42 will no longer stop at Basingstoke Hospital and its timetable for services in and out of Alton from the Candovers and Basingstoke will be changed with some journeys out of Basingstoke terminating at Alresford. There was concern expressed by Ropley councillor Chris Graham that the Cango service had failed to address the needs of people living in some of the more rural areas such as A32/A272 triangle around West Tisted. In response. Mrs Armstrong pointed out that while Cango buses were small and designed to travel along country lanes, if they were being asked to pick up in isolated areas they often needed to turn around to avoid unnecessary travel and this was not always possible. However, Hampshire County Council was currently looking to provide a more flexible taxi-share service to cover these areas. In response to local outrage over the axing of the North Hampshire Hospital route, Mrs Armstrong said that the review had shown that few people actually used the service. Instead it was intended to link up with the regular service from Basingstoke bus station, for an additional cost of just 20 pence. Furthermore, the main line buses were wheelchair friendly, although unlike Cango, they could not offer secured wheelchair travel. Pam Bradford (Alton Eastbrook) asked that consideration be given to services for young people living in rural areas and wanting to go into the town in the evenings. This was a tricky area for Cango, according to Mrs Armstrong, as it was difficult to get young people to sign up to anything in advance. But it was a subject that could be explored with EHDC. Committee chairman David O'Donnel (Holybourne and Froyle) was interested to known why the Cango service appeared to work so well in some areas but not in others. Mrs Armstrong suggested that it was a question of familiarity and trust. People, she said, were often reluctant to sign up to a scheme, especially one with limited funding, if they ran the risk of losing current, well-tried and tested transport arrangements. The only glimmer of hope came from EHDC transport development officer Gwil Williams, who said that the district council might be able to work with HCC to help support initiatives for older people. Despite this, it was clear that bus services were being reduced and as a result, EHDC north planning committee chairman Patrick Burridge asked for an urgent review of HCC parking standards. He pointed out that at present the emphasis was on reducing the amount of parking provision allowed but as people were being forced to rely more and more on their own cars for transport, there was a need to reconsider these requirements, particularly in rural areas. To find out more about the Cango service or to book a seat call 0845 6024135 or visit the website at cango.hants.gov.uk.
