The Bathgate Town Centre bus service is set to operate on an amended timetable following an 'ask the passengers' exercise.
The revised timetable answers concerns aired in two petitions earlier this year after the town centre service was curtailed in early afternoons.
From October 5, the service will operate as a circular route in one direction, retaining an hourly service extending to 5pm Monday to Friday and 3pm on a Saturday pending a successful application being made to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.
This comes following a meeting of West Lothian Council Executive where council officers provided background to the decision-making process.
West Lothian Council has historically subsidised town services operating in more residential areas than the commercial bus network currently extends to.
In 2016 town service routes (Armadale, Bathgate and Whitburn) were redesigned to operate between the hours of 9am and 3pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 12pm on Saturdays, as studies of previous town service operations had shown that usage dropped significantly outwith these hours.
In September 2016, the council identified one off time limited funding to extend the then newly designed town centre routes to 5pm Monday – Friday and 3pm on a Saturday.
At its meeting of June 25 2019, the council executive extended the funding to September 28 2019 and agreed that after this date the timetables would revert to the originally designed routes and timetables from September 30 2019.
A petition subsequently submitted by residents within Belvedere and Easton requested consideration of alternative timetables which could result in the operating hours being extended.
As part of the consideration process, council officers undertook a public engagement exercise through a drop-in event based in Bathgate Partnership Centre to gather the views of service users on the proposed timetable options where they were joined by a representative from E&M Horsburgh and the Bus Users Scotland group.
Following the exercise, the recommendation was taken to Council Executive for further consideration and approval.
Executive councillor for development and transport Cathy Muldoon said: “The provision of a local bus service is vital in many of our communities across West Lothian.
“As we continue to move through this uncertain period brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, it is important that we engage with residents in their communities wherever possible.
“Officers have listened to the views of service users, seeking their insights and thoughts on how the service could be maintained in an efficient manner that continues to bring benefits to the local community.”
