Taxi Driver Online

http://makeashorterlink.com/?A1533222A

TAXI SCHEME IS A RUNAWAY SUCCESS STORY


11:00 - 31 December 2004
An innovative rural transport project in North Cornwall has been declared a runaway success.

The parish of Lezant, near Launceston, now has a unique subsidised taxi service, which replaced a local bus service after it failed to attract enough passengers.

Users of the service are able to ring a taxi operator in Launceston for a vehicle which then takes them from Lezant to any point within a prescribed local area - usually shops or health facilities.

Passengers pay a reduced fixed fare of £2 and the rest of the charge is met by Lezant Parish Council, which in turn is backed by the East Cornwall Rural Transport Partnership and Cornwall County Council's passenger transport unit.

Members of the county council's community life policy development and scrutiny committee recently heard about the project's success.

In a report to the committee, county council director of transportation Richard Fish explained: "The scheme has been extremely successful to an extent more than envisaged. While there is sufficient funding for the remainder of this financial year, arrangements need to be made for 2005-06."

Now £2,000 from the county council's public transport support revenue budget is being put towards maintaining of the scheme.

Committee chairman Adam Paynter, who is also the local county councillor for Lezant, said: "Rural transport problems need creative solutions like this, and I am very pleased to see that we are meeting a public need by backing this service.

"I have no doubt this is a model that other parts of Cornwall, and other rural areas nationally, will be looking at with interest."

Ian Nash, of Lezant Parish Council, said they were pleased with the partnership project.

"By pooling our resources, we have replaced an under-used bus service with a well-used taxi service, which is proving to be a great asset to the communities we serve," he said.