A bus firm has been pressed by members of the community over its decision to cut a Kinross-shire service.
Mark Ruskell, a Scottish Greens MSP for the area, met with First over its proposals to scrap the X53.
Mr Ruskell is calling for more bus drivers to come forward and save the “essential” service amid a national shortage.
He says more than 500 of his constituents have written to First to ask them to rethink the move, which the firm says is being driven by a “perfect storm” of events.
During his meeting with First, Mr Ruskell – along with members of Dollar and Muckhart Community Council – outlined their concerns.
Some have claimed it will leave people “more isolated” with limited public transport options in the area.
Mr Ruskell said: “Clearly the driver shortage crisis is affecting the reliability of services, while putting pressure on the operator to cut routes such as the X53 from Stirling to Clacks and Kinross.
“However, efforts need to be redoubled to protect services, particularly given that we are just weeks away from the roll out of free bus travel for under-22s, which will increase passenger numbers.
‘Wrong time for operator to cut services’
“It’s absolutely the wrong time for any operator to be considering cutting services.
“First are recruiting drivers right now and with the extension of free bus travel it’s a good time for new drivers to step forward, you are needed.
“It’s clear from the many constituents who have been in touch and the testimony of community councils at the meeting, that the cut of the X53 will leave many people stranded without access to essential services.
“At a time when many new houses are being built locally, we will be building in car dependency for new residents while leaving those without private transport completely isolated.”
‘Perfect storm of circumstances’ says First
David Phillips, operations director for First Midland, said: “We first introduced service X53 on a commercial basis last year after Stagecoach stepped away from the route.
“However, we’re presently experiencing a perfect storm of circumstances that ultimately leads to us simply not having enough drivers to cover services, and it’s purely on that basis that we’re planning to suspend service X53 with effect from January 10 2022.
“It may well be that local authorities along the route could potentially tender for a service if the rural setting of the route meets social need requirements.
“In the meantime, we’re continuing to do all that we can to address our driver establishment issue, including working closely with the Scottish Refugee Council on recruitment, and requesting that government treat the role of bus drivers as critical workers with a view to exploring a relaxation of visa requirements that would ease industry wide driver availability pressures.”
