HOORAY! £1 single and £2 return on the Park and Ride which will soon be expanded to the new Taunton Zone (boundaries currently under consideration) followed in January for a 3 month trial from the Government on all buses across England.

Better still, as I have been requesting for many years, there is a bus which goes from Taunton Station to Musgrove Park Hospital run by Somerset County Council.

This service along with all the others needs better publicity which is why we have 18 events during Catch the Bus Month this month across the County.

Somerset County Council in tandem with Somerset Bus Partnership are working to improve services across the County and those that run into Devon/Dorset and the Bristol - Bath corridor.

As a result of the Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP) where Somerset asked for £163 million (a bare minimum of what Somerset has been lacking in investment in public transport over the last 20 years) we received only £11.9m.

Though we now have £11.9m, the way the County Council spend that is very much dictated by the Government.

However, if Somerset County Council give a good account of how the money is spent with real improvement, more funding will be forthcoming – we hope...

Cllr John Hassall
Cotford St Luke & Oake