Passengers across Dorset are making far fewer journeys by bus

Department for Transport data show that passengers in Dorset took a combined 8.7 million bus journeys in 2016-17 – 1.6 million fewer than in 2009-10, when the figures were first recorded.

In comparison, passengers in Poole 2.7 million more journeys in the same period than in 2009-10 and in Bournemouth the increase was 1.9 million .

The Dorset figures reflect the trend nationally where four per cent less bus journeys are being made across England as a whole.

Of this, significant drops were seen across the north and the Midlands which outweighed an increase on the south.

Campaigners blame unreliable services and rising fares for the fall across Dorset.

Dawn Badminton, director of Bus Users UK, said council funding cuts led to many subsidised routes being stopped.

She said: “Local authorities have had to take some really tough decisions. Withdrawing that money means that we have lost services, usually in areas where ridership is not high, such as in rural communities. I don’t think we will ever get back to the levels of service we have had previously.”

She added: “It affects everyone, from a young person trying to get to school and meet up with his mates, to adults going to work and more elderly passengers getting to their doctor on time.

“We know of some communities that have been practically cut off. They try and support people through community transport, but that can’t always offer the same coverage.”

The news comes after First Wessex cut services in Weymouth and west Dorset for its 2017/18 winter timetable. The changes were in response to the seasonal level of passenger demand, as well as congestion issues, withdrawal of subsidies and to ensure long-term sustainability of the routes.

Across England, the figures show that between 2009 and 2017, the average bus fare in England – excluding London – increased by 34 per cent.

Over the same period, the cost to bus companies of running bus services increased by 15 per cent for every journey, but the revenue earned increased by just eight per cent.

The average number of journeys taken by each person in Bournemouth dropped slightly from 90 in 2009-10 to 88 in 2016-17, and in Dorset from 25 to 21. In Poole the number of journeys uncreased from 53 to 69.

The number of concessionary journeys taken by elderly and disabled passengers remained fairly level in the conurbation, but plunged by 23 per cent in the Dorset county area.