IT HAS come to my attention that the 312 bus route is under long term threat.

The bus runs from Thornbury, via Aztec West, Bristol Parkway, the MOD and the UWE, extending to Frenchay Hospital. From the New Year, the bus will be run by 4 Towns/Vale Link community transport. There will be a weekday service and a new Saturday service, the latter being particularly welcome. The service route will remain the same as it has been since its inception.

However, the service is being reduced, putting its long term viability in question. The new timetable means the bus will leave Thornbury only twice during peak time (at 0651 and 0831), then once every two hours. The final pick up from UWE will be at 1730, the final collection from Parkway at 1742.

These timetable changes mean that workers at UWE and along the route have much reduced flexibility on when to catch the bus, there and back; further, commuters using Bristol Parkway will have to arrive back there by 1742 or have no option of getting from the station back to Thornbury by a single bus.

A bus service needs to be frequent, flexible and reliable. This reduced service will not meet these criteria. Three of the key groups targetted by the service, local UWE students (whose number is likely to grow), workers at Aztec West and those using rail services, will be directly disadvantaged and will have extra incentives to use their cars, causing, if nothing else, even more congestion. The likely switch to cars would reduce demand for the bus, starting a vicious cycle culminating in the end of the service.

It seems that some combination of the bus company and South Gloucestershire Council have led to the changes. The council acknowledges that patronage is not too bad, but claims that the cost of running the service has increased considerably. Clearly, councils face budgetary constraints. Admittedly, also, the usage of the 312 has been less than might have been hoped, not least because marketing of the service has been poor.

However, to reduce the service to the point at which it is not viable long term seems short-sighted. It also clearly conflicts with the council's climate change strategy. One also wonders whether the Council's Integrated Transport Unit should close, in the absence of any integrated transport. Sustainability, both economic and ecological, would demand the improvement, not reduction, in such a bus service.

Those residents concerned with the likely loss of the service should contact their local councillors. They should also lobby for a better 312 service. They could, if they work en route, lobby their employer to support the service. They might also even consider using the bus!

Andrew Mearman Windrush Court Thornbury