Falkirk Council bosses have admitted that Bo'ness bus services "aren't good enough" - but said that the council's financial position means there is little they can do.
A meeting held in Bo'ness Academy on Wednesday evening was arranged with just a week's notice but nevertheless around 100 people turned out to hear what the council had to say and to make their feelings known.
Several people spoke of their frustration and anger at bus services that are unreliable and infrequent, leaving elderly people isolated and many others unable to get to work or health appointments.
"The people who need the service most are those who can afford it least," said an audience member, sparking applause.
The meeting was told that many of the services - including the 2 and the 909 - are commercially run, which means the council has no say.
But there was particular anger from the audience at changes to the F45 service to Linlithgow, which is subsidised by the council, and now runs only every two hours.
"Two hours is far too long - something will have to be done!" one audience member said. "It's affected folks' lives - there's people have had to give up their work because of it."
Michael McGuinness, head of growth, planning and climate with Falkirk Council, explained that council-subsidised services have been slashed due to rising costs at a time that the council needs to cut its spending by £67 million.
But there are other reasons for a decline in services, he said. Passenger numbers have dropped by 35 per cent in the wake of the pandemic, he said, although he did concede that "if there are no services, people can't use them".
Another major factor has been the rising prices of fuel and energy that have hit bus companies hard, while there is also a nationwide shortage of drivers.
Mr McGuinness also warned that Scottish Government funding which helped those companies survive Covid will soon be withdrawn, which will mean "it's going to be more painful".
Transport manager Chris Cox explained that the council has a fixed budget of £1.2 million to spend on public transport and when services were re-tendered last year, the costs had risen sharply.
The £85,000 it had cost to run the F45 and 46 every year rose to £135,000 for "just half that service".
But he denied that Bo'ness was hit harder than other communities.
"We took the decision to cut all of our Sunday services so that no communities were cut off entirely," Mr Cox said.
He told the meeting that Prentice Westwood had won the contract to run the F45 but it had been unable to get enough drivers, which meant the contract went to First and then to McGills.
Mr McGuinness agreed with one member of the audience who said the overall bus service is not good enough, with even commercial buses stopping at 9pm.
As the council's manager in charge of tackling climate change, he also admitted that the current bus services will not entice people out of their cars.
But Mr McGuinness warned that any major changes are unlikely in the current financial climate.
"There's no magic bullet - it's a really difficult time," he said. "But we will look at all of your suggestions and see what can be done about changes to timetables and routes."
