MORE than half of public transport passenger trips planned to be cut in Devon are now proposed to be restored, following widespread public consultation.

Devon County Council had originally planned to reduce passenger trips by almost 400,000 this year to save £1.7 million, but it is now proposing to reduce this to just under 170,000 after talking to communities across the county.

Out of a total 4.5 million annual passenger trips on all of Devon’s supported services – it means that over 96% of passenger trips on Devon’s supported network would carry on unaffected by the revised proposals being put to Devon County Council’s Cabinet next week (June 10).

Following a 12 week public consultation earlier this year, in which more than 2,600 questionnaire responses were received along with a number of other letters, e-mail and petitions, a number of amendments have been made to the proposals while still achieving the necessary savings.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took part on the formal consultation process as well as our officers tasked with going through the feedback.

“We have held a thorough consultation which resulted in over 2,600 responses and, as promised, we have had a good look through all of the comments received and taken everything into account.

“This is the first time that we have proposed making public transport service reductions for four years, and a budget reduction of this magnitude is impossible to implement without some impact. “However, we are fulfilling our commitment not to leave any communities entirely isolated, and the revised proposals reduce the number of affected passenger trips from 400,000 to just under 170,000 which means that 96% of passenger trips on our supported network will carry on unaffected.”

Among the revised proposals, it is recommended that there are no reductions to Service 55B Exeter to Tiverton.

The £100,000 Community Transport Fund set aside by the county council will continue to be spent on bus service support - and funding will be used to retain town services in Crediton two days a week.

The evening services on Service 5 Exeter to Crediton are now proposed to continue in their entirety – and as an alternative to withdrawal, a reduced evening service is recommended to continue on Service 1 Exeter to Tiverton, and a reduced Sunday service is proposed on Service X38 Exeter to Plymouth.

A number of service cuts are recommended as originally proposed, including withdrawing financial support for the Fare Car F9 in the Tiverton area, among other services.