Town bus just the ticket for Littlehampton travellers
BUSINESS is booming on a bus service for Littlehampton which was launched thanks to people power.
The number 12 route, known as the Town Bus, is carrying well over 200 people every day, more than double the passengers travelling on the service when it started in October, 2007.
And now its future has been secured for the next four years thanks to funding from the town council and from West Sussex County Council. Worthing-based Compass Travel won the tendering competition to run the service.
Pressure from people living in the seafront area of Littlehampton led to the bus service being started up by the town council, running from the Tesco superstore on the outskirts, into the town centre, along the coast road to Rustington and terminating at Sainsbury's.
Stagecoach service 'uneconomic'
The seafront had been left with no bus since Stagecoach withdrew its service four years ago, blaming a lack of passengers for making the route uneconomic.
However, since the number 12's launch, passenger numbers have grown steadily, and the service has been extended to include Saturdays and afternoon running.
Back in November, 2007, the first full month, a total of 2,277 people travelled on the Town Bus, averaging out at 103 for each operating day. Last month the total was 4,949, an average of 215 passengers daily. The highest number carried was in December, with 216 people per day.
Town councillor Mike Northeast, a prime mover in setting up the service, welcomed its increasing popularity.
"We have proved that there was a need for this bus. We put our money where our mouth is as the town council, to put this bus on, and asked the public to use it, which they have done.
Helpful driver
"They see it as their bus. They have a good relationship with the driver, who helps elderly passengers on and off the bus."
The county council's 15,000 a year contribution to the service is coming from cash Tesco is providing as a condition of planning permission for the extension to its Littlehampton superstore. The town council will provide the other 8,000 for the route, operated by Worthing-based Compass Travel.
Added Mr Northeast: "There's still room for improvement, in terms of other areas which could be served by the bus, but it is enabling people to get to facilities they are paying their council tax for, like the swimming centre and the Windmill Entertainment Centre, which they perhaps couldn't before.
"People are also saying to us now they would love to see a Sunday service brought back, and we need to be looking at whether we could run a seven-day service."
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Weather for Littlehampton
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 15 C to 21 C
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