Transport issues

The responses to the questions about transport show that this is an issue with many parishes. Most people travel by car to Exeter, Tiverton, Wellington and Taunton for needs unfulfilled in their immediate locality. Local services that reduce the necessity to generate private car journeys include primary schools and GP surgeries in some larger villages. Public bus services, where and when they exist, are well used. Off the main roads, the service is at best abysmal in terms of frequency, and for isolated small villages, non existent. Cost is another
issue, despite the Devon County Council subsidy to all the services.

For the more rural communities, the issue of public transport is obviously in need of examination. Everyone knows of people who cannot drive. A lot of these rely on their friends or family but as the population ages these numbers are bound to increase. If 5% of Londoners were unable to go shopping more than once a week there would be a public outcry but in a small rural community, perhaps because of changing circumstances rather than a deliberate move, this goes unnoticed. Surely it is not beyond the wit of man to devise an economical system of rural transport on reasonable demand. The Plan Project, SOFTWARE CONTROL OF BUSES, could help to improve this situation using mobile phones and GPS technology.