BUS services which are not commercially viable could be handed over to private operators to run, in an attempt to help save Hampshire County Council £100 million.

The council needs to find the savings by March 2015, and has looked at the £4.7m it spends on subsidies to prop up local bus services in the county.

A further £1m is spent on supporting community transport services, and £13.5m on the national concessionary fares scheme. A consultation was carried out earlier this year to examine what was most important to Hampshire residents as the council looks to save up to £1.5million from the public and community transport budget as a result of Government cutting its grant to Hampshire by 43 per cent over four years.

Over 3,000 responses were received across the county, which helped inform the recommendations made on where to focus the remaining passenger transport budget.

Councillor Seán Woodward, executive member for economy, transport and environment, said: “Bus use in Hampshire is nearing a 20-year high, and with the budget pressures we face, now is the time to look at public transport subsidy and consider how we make best use of our funding in this area.

“We asked residents, what were the most important journeys for them and they told us daytime services on weekdays, as this is how they travel to health appointments and to the shops, and so this is where we will focus our funding.

“Our enhancements to the national concessionary fares scheme will now fall into line with the national scheme where older people cannot use their free bus pass before 9.30am. The exception to this will be the few rural routes where the next bus is after 10.30am, so these bus pass holders will still be able to use their free travel from 9am.

“There will be no change to the existing Hampshire scheme in respect of passes for disabled people.

“We have looked hard at how well services are used. The trips we are talking about here equate to only 15 per cent of all bus journeys, as the rest are commercially viable for the bus companies to run without extra funding from the council taxpayer.

“I have examined very carefully these proposals and the feedback, where people have been absolutely clear on what is most important to them. I am very grateful for this input, as it has helped me reach a decision on the fairest way to spend the bus subsidy budget, ensuring that transport links are maintained in all communities where there is currently a public or community transport service.”

Changes to the older persons concessionary fare scheme will take effect from April 1, 2015.

Reductions in weekday timetables where passenger use was low will take effect in the new year.