Valleys night bus gets lifeline of another year (From Stroud News and Journal)

Valleys night bus gets lifeline of another year

THE underused Five Valleys night bus will run for another year after receiving a funding boost.

But organisers say it is vital more people make use of the service.

And those in charge hope to reinvigorate the floundering bus by talking to parishes and businesses, looking to include new areas such as Painswick and Stonehouse and to link up with existing bus providers and taxi operators.

Villagers and parish councils say they would like to keep the bus, which has been operating to and from Stroud on Fridays and Saturdays since October.

But the bus, which has previously been subject to 'use it or lose it' warnings, is yet to attract the crowds to make it cost - effective and self-financing.

"For a number of reasons, the scheme has not been very well used so far and there was a possibility that it would be withdrawn in May, when the funding ran out," said Graham Stanley, of Stroud Local Strategic Partnership, which is paying for the service.

"However, we have been able to get funding to allow it to continue for another year but obviously, if this money is to provide good value, the bus needs to be much better used."

Organisers have cited lack of publicity, a change of timetable, inconvenient times and a number of 'false starts' for the low take-up so far.

Mr Stanlet added: "It's well-known that bus services take at least a year to get established to get used by a regular group of passengers and it's been quite hard to build up this sort of customer loyalty."