LEIGH PARK CANGO

As a result of a successful bid for funding from the Urban Bus Challenge competition, new demand-responsive Cango services were introduced in Leigh Park, Havant in November 2002 to allow access to employment at Broadmarsh Business Park, doctor's surgeries on Leigh Park and health facilities at the Queen Alexandra and St Mary's hospitals. This was followed by the introduction of a concessionary fare scheme for unemployed residents in Leigh Park in May 2003, which is administered by the local employment centre.

Unfortunately overall patronage figures have been disappointing and these services are not proving as successful as the Cango services introduced in the rural areas of Hampshire. However, the services do enable a number of journeys to be made, especially to health facilities, by people who were previously finding it either difficult or impossible to make. The reasons for these figures could be due to a number of factors:-

(i) the emphasis for operating Cango services in other parts of Hampshire was on converting an existing supported bus service rather than introducing a new one for which there is no base to build upon;

(ii) Leigh Park is served by alternative frequent commercial bus services unlike rural areas, where Cango services generally offer the only public transport option; and

(iii) the daytime services are targeting health facilities only and because of the nature of their journeys, do not attract regular patronage in the same way rural Cango services do.

The Urban Bus Challenge funding officially expires on 31 March 2004 and this has necessitated the need to determine the arrangements for any future support and operation for the Leigh Park services. A surplus in the revenue funding has been predicted and the Department for Transport has agreed that this money could be carried forward to the next financial year for the continuation of services in some form. Therefore, a number of options were submitted for consideration at a decision-making meeting held on 9 March 2004. In order to allow for consultation on these options, a decision was made to continue the existing two vehicle Leigh Park Cango contract for a period of up to three months and for the operation of a one vehicle service beyond this period, thus supporting Aims 1 and 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Maximising life opportunities and Improving services).