CONSULTATIONS have begun in Gloucestershire over proposed changes to public transport.

Almost £10million a year is spent on public transport - not including home-to-school transport - and the council is looking to make the service as efficient as possible.

Engagement evenings are being held across the county to explain the thinking behind the Funded Public Transport Consultation and include some workshop activities to help identify local public transport needs.

The next session is at St Edward's Hall, Stow, on December 9 at 7.30pm.

The issues being covered include: Park and Ride, bus routes, community transport and concessionary bus passes.

The consultations run until January 4.

Some of the proposed changes include withdrawing all but the first and last journeys on the number 27 Tetbury to Yate bus service because of duplication by the 622 bus, and introducing a £2 per vehicle charge for Park and Ride and the removal of subsidy for bus pass holders on the service.

The council has also been asking for feedback to the newly introduced 801 Moreton to Cheltenham bus timetable. It is not a subsidised service and is not part of the survey but the council wants to be aware of any problems so they can be discussed with the operator.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: "We want to understand the public’s priorities to help shape our plans for making the money allocated to Gloucestershire’s subsidised public transport work harder. The consultation is about good housekeeping and making sure we are spending the money available in the most effective way.

"In 2011, following consultation, we set a maximum contribution per person to services - £2 per urban return journey, £8 per rural return journey.

"Around 20 per cent of funded services now run over this and need to be reviewed to make them sustainable for the future. It makes sense to look at these services in context, and that is why we are reviewing all of our subsidised bus routes, taking advantage of opportunities to improve long term sustainability.

"Actual bus route subsidies currently range from 60p to over £30 per journey depending on the service. Also, some services cost less than £1,000 while others cost over £100,000 per year to run, depending, for example, on passenger numbers.

"We need to make sure that subsidised bus services go where people need them, don’t duplicate bus services without subsidy and are busy enough to be sustainable in the future. Almost 90 per cent of all passenger journeys on buses in the county are made on commercial services - those that run without public subsidy."

Figures the county council currently spends annually on public transport breaks down as: £200,000 on Park & Ride; £720,000 on community transport; £2m –on local subsidised bus servies and £6.7m on concessionary travel schemes which are mainly statutory reimbursements to operators.

Residents who wish to comment on any aspect of publicly funded transport are encouraged to respond direct on www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/fundedtransport