‘More people need to know about bus threat’, says council

THERE are fears that the Route 40 bus that goes from Thame to High Wycombe, may lose its subsidy because not enough people are using it.

Last April, Oxfordshire County County stepped in to subsidise the route from Thame as far as Stokenchurch, when Arriva said the route was not commercially viable. According to a report, 185 people a day use the No 40 bus from Thame, including some sixth form pupils at Lord Williams’s school, people visiting the hospital in Wycombe, and young people who work in High Wycombe who are unable to get to the station.

Some Thame Town Councillors are concerned that information about a public consultation on subsidised bus routes, including the 120, 121, 123 and 124 as well as Line 40, is not reaching people who may not have access to the internet. So the council is going to stick posters about the consultation on all the relevant bus stops in the town.

The current subsidy for Line 40 as far as Stokenchurch, is just short of £113,000 which Oxfordshire County Council, who is looking at areas to make cuts to its budget, has said is not viable.

Cllr Mary Stiles, the town council’s Transport representative, told councillors at a meeting of the Planning and Environment committee last night (14/10): “This service is vital for the town and it’s very important that as many people as possible know about the consultation and let the county council know there feelings about the bus services.”

Paper copies of the Transport Consultation are available at Thame Town Hall, or downloadable as a PDF at: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/Busreview2014/consultationHome