Unhappy bus passengers in West Lothian will continue to desert local services if they do not improve, it has been warned.
Hundreds of bus passengers took part in a recent West Lothian survey on services, which raised serious concerns over public transport links in the county.
The key findings of the report showed that a fifth of those asked why they used the bus said it was their only option, and as many said their number one gripe was the frequency of services and the reliability of buses.
The council was given money by Holyrood last year to survey existing and potential passengers as part of a funding process aimed at improving the core bus network in the county.
The idea is to boost public transport use as well as improving the economies of outlying areas by giving residents easier access to work.
In her report to the Executive, Nicola Gill, Passenger Transport Manager said: "The main concerns raised by passengers were relating to reliability and frequency of services."
The council's West Lothian Bus Alliance has been awarded £225,750 from Transport Scotland's Bus Partnership Fund to complete a strategic business case to improve services on 15 routes covering the county.
As the Local Democracy Reporting Service highlighted recently many councillors serving rural parts of West Lothian fear that services subsidised by the council are threatened because of budget cuts which the council will have to introduce this year.
The council can only provide subsidies on routes which are not served commercially. It cannot compete directly with commercial operators. And while it only subsidises 20% of services these are among the services most relied on by people in outlying areas, or within towns such as Bathgate and Broxburn to provide transport to shops and medical facilities for largely elderly passengers.
The near £2m annual buses bill supports the subsidised network. The single biggest item is the 31 circular route through Torphichen, which costs £375,000 a year. Subsidy per journey ranges from £1.56 for the Bathgate to Boghall Saturday service to £20.28 for the 449 Bo'ness-Torphichen-Bathgate service.
Commercial operators are struggling to maintain staffing levels and find drivers to cover routes. Cancellations on some services are frequent.
The survey revealed that the largest age group relying on buses- 40%- were aged 45 to 65. The majority of those who answered the survey - which was available online - said they had no alternative transport they could rely on. Most use buses for access to shops and medical facilities.
Many younger users rely on buses to transport children to and from nursery or school.
Almost a quarter of the more than 300 who responded agreed with the statement "Services are not frequent enough." while almost a fifth believed that other modes of transport would be faster and more reliable.
Councillor Stuart Borrowman, who long campaigned for the restoration of bus services in his Armadale and Blackridge ward, said: "The complaints I get about buses are mostly about the unreliability of commercial services and those complaints come mainly from people in modestly-paid employment or who have frequent hospital visits.
"The council has limited financial capacity but is right to try to sustain core routes and services that are predictable and reliable else more people will opt out of public transport."
Holyrood is actively trying to increase bus use- providing free travel to teenagers as a way of nudging a generation away from reliance on personal transport- and while take up of the free National Entitlement Card has been effective in West Lothian, the idea of taking the bus to work or for leisure is not something that many with other options would choose.
The council has a target for Public Transport of having 90 per cent of residents with access to an hourly or better daytime service Monday to Saturday. It is possible that changes in the commercial and subsidised network could impact this.
The results of the survey will influence options within a Strategic Business Appraisal being drawn up by council officers. The next stages of the project are expected to be complete within this financial year.A report will be brought back to Council Executive in March to seek approval for the final submission to the Scottish Government for funding to develop services.
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