THERE was a recent complaint in your letters page concerning bus service A578 serving Inverkip, Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie.

The dissatisfaction was with an 8.40am start and a 3.40pm finish time.

The service was retendered in July 2023 and the winning tender was awarded to Millport Motors.

The new cost is £1,253.21 per week (£65,166.90 per year) compared to £889.21 per week (£46,238.92 per year) previously.

In assessing matters an analysis of usage was conducted by SPT network analysts and a number of early morning and late afternoon journeys had an average of ONE passenger, meaning that inevitably some journeys had nobody on board.

In light of this statistic and in the interests of saving taxpayers' money the above tender and conditions were agreed by the SPT Operations Committee and accepted by the operator, Millport Motors. SPT are delighted to support this local village service.

SPT has the facility to step in when a route is commercially unprofitable and unlikely to continue, but there are guidelines as to the cost per passenger and the availability of alternative public transport.

Councillor David Wilson

Chair

SPT Operations Committee