NEARLY two million fewer bus journeys are being taken across Dorset compared to pre-pandemic levels, new figures show.

Transport campaigners say major changes need to be made to the way buses are run in the county with one saying “the rot set in well before Covid”.

The figures, revealed by the Department for Transport, show passengers took 4.8million bus journeys across Dorset in the year to March 2022 - down from 7.6million on the last full year pre-pandemic.

With a number of rural bus routes facing uncertainty and cuts to service levels - including the number 6 from Bridport to Yeovil, 206 from Wyke Regis to Weymouth, and the 378 between Lyme Regis and Seaton - campaigners are calling for more community involvement in the creation of routes and timetables.

Alan Williams, 79, said residents needed to be able to have an input with stakeholders when it comes to the creation of routes and timetables. 

Mr Williams made headlines last year after stepping in to personally finance the X53 between Bridport and Weymouth.

He welcomed the £2 single bus fare cap but said it would do little to redress the issue unless services were made more regular.

He said: “The thing is if they are going to extend it permanently they should extend it permanently. Public transport that is cheap and frequent gets people out of their cars but it’s no good just making the services cheaper: buses need to be more frequent and that needs to be addressed.

“Obviously it’s not feasible for all villages to have an hourly service but the main routes, at the very least, should be.”

Bob Driscoll, committee member on the Western Area Transport Action Group, said: “The rot has set in well before Covid but that has severely damaged the industry.

"Bus services have been withdrawn not because they were not popular or not used but because companies weren’t making money - the reimbursement rate for the bus pass subsidy has not been sustainable. 

"There’s no glib answer or one simple solution because there are a whole lot of factors to the extent we almost need to reinvent the wheel, if I might say so, if we are to be serious about trying to genuinely persuade people to change their mode of transport.”

Mr Driscoll said bus services were a ‘huge subject’ and that many people were often put off by the lack of appropriate bus stops and the infrequency of key services - he cited the X51 which currently runs every two hours to Dorchester hospital.

Last month councillor Ray Bryan, portfolio holder for highways, travel and the environment, said rural bus services were ‘not fit for purpose’.

He told a hearing at the transport select committee: “I think for a number of years now we have seen the reduction in services available and that is purely down to money.”

Dorset Council has been approached for comment.