communi spirit
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UBLIC transport throughout the financial cutbacks have slashed Bexhill-on-Sea, in East Sus3x, for example, has already ad its conventional bus serces depleted as a result of fallig traffic levels and cutbacks.
But necessity is the mother of Nention, and the town now has volunteer-run Community bus aerating four routes six days a .eek which was bought with the d of a new bus grant, a E2500 rant from East Sussex County ouncil, local fund raising and a an from the local Friends of the Iderly.
The new Reeve-Burgess-boied Ford Transit 15-seater ought by community-bus orgaiser Douglas Upton beat the rice increases as it was a can?lied order already in stock.
The routes are operated under Section 30 permit and the bus lready has a pool of 38 volnteer drivers, each having a )ur-hour duty once every two r three weeks.
The service is also helped by dvertising revenue, and East ussex County Council has also greed to cover losses up to 1000 on the first year's operaon.
The local National Bus Comany subsidiary Maidstone and istrict helped the project, which self has become a limited cornany, by training drivers and _applying an automatic ticket lachine.
A group of Maidstone and istrict staff who accepted vol ntary redundancy when the I&D closed its Bexhill depot ope to launch their own Bexhill 3rvice. UK is suffering from the recession subsidies, writes NOEL MILLIER.
The men have formed their own company, Manxtreee Ltd and hope to buy five single-deck buses to replace the abandoned M & D services and compete with some of the National company's remaining services in the town.
Not surprisingly M & D opposes the plan, and the application is due to be heard by the South-eastern Traffic Commissioners early next month. If the licence is approved the Manxtree routes will link with the community bus service.
Thus Bexhill, which has one of the highest percentage of old people in the country, may soon become one of the few urban areas in Britain with not only a community bus, but also a private and commercial town bus service.