LAST week, the council confirmed the Basingstoke Centre Shuttle bus service would be ending at the end of March, after a raft of cuts got the green light as part of its 2021/22 budget.

The bus has been running every half an hour during the pandemic, having previously run every 15 minutes.

The news was met with a lot of negative feedback from members of the public, with more than 100 people expressing their upset on the Gazette’s report.

Katie Cooper, from South View, is one reader who used the bus several times a week, to get from Basing View directly to the Aquadrome or Morrison’s, as she has disabilities and doesn’t drive.

The 41-year-old said: “It makes things awkward. Now I can just cross the bridge and don’t have to change in the town centre. I wasn’t really travelling at peak times, but even if they just reduced the number of services it would still be beneficial.”

Katie recently took the bus to attend her Covid vaccine appointment, and also uses the park-and-ride service with family to do Christmas shopping each year.

The council’s argument was that usage of the shuttle was dropping and it was not fit for purpose, with Mark Ruffell saying: “"The service is inadequate. It's taking the wrong people from the wrong place to the wrong destination. It will never deliver what it was meant to deliver in the first place."

I decided to take a trip on the shuttle on Tuesday morning, to see for myself the service valued by so many, and speak to those who use it.

I arrived at the Leisure Park not long after 07:30am on Tuesday, March 2, and parked my car.

The left hand side car parks were busy, as it is being used by people attending vaccination appointments at the nearby fire station. However, the park and ride area, close to the bus stop, was almost empty, with just a couple of cars of dog walkers.

The Centre Shuttle arrived promptly at 07:52, ready for 8am departure.

With no one waiting, the driver told me: “Before the lockdown it was busy, but since the lockdown it’s been very very quiet, sometimes no passengers.”

On board, one passenger joined me. The lady, from Buckskin, had parked her car at the Leisure Park to travel into work as a pharmacist in the town centre. She said she was “not happy” to hear the news that the service would soon be axed.

She added: “Because of the Covid, most people are working from home and uptake is quite low. The shops are shut so the people that work there do not need the bus.

“The drivers could give a good view of the normal uptake. I think the council should wait until after the lockdown and then decide.”

She said she will now have to take a local bus, which isn’t as convenient: “I take this one because after work I like to take the car and do some shopping before I go home. Now I will have to make a separate trip.

“Parking in town all day cost £5 or £7. Whereas parking at the Leisure Park, it’s £2.70 in and out [of town]. If it’s axed, everyone will be one the local bus and when schools return there will be completion on these buses. Once it’s full, the bus doesn’t take anyone else.”

At the train station, nobody entered the bus and it continued to Basing View empty.

The driver’s next pick up was three passengers who took the 8.30 Leisure Park to train station service, all of whom had parked and ridden into town to change onto a train.

At 9am, as our reporter exited the empty bus back at the Leisure Park, the bus driver- who would be driving this route all day, with a break - said: “It’s a shame, it was so busy before the pandemic and now it’s so quiet and lonely. I hope the covid goes away soon.”

I headed back to my car in two minds. Yes, it was clear that service is currently underused. A shuttle bus for fewer than five people per trip at peak times could be construed as a waste. But with leisure facilities - the cinema, bingo, bowling, restaurants, swimming pool, gym, ice rink - shut up for lockdown, and fewer people working in the town centre of Basing View offices at the moment, it hardly seems surprising.

A service which may seem quite simple is quite clearly valued by many judging by the outcry of concern. And as the council claims to be committed to the climate emergency effort, reducing the public transport available does seem slightly counterproductive.

I guess only time will tell us the true outcomes of this decision.