Transport giant First is axing bus routes across the West. This is bad for communities and the environment, and I'll start by citing an example close to home. Along with a number of other routes, First has decided to withdraw the 121 bus service with effect from May 10, 2009.

The 121 runs between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare, calling at several North Somerset villages as well as Bristol International Airport. Its withdrawal will leave the area with no public transport.

Some of these villages have populations of more than 3,000 people, so we're not talking about small communities and this pattern of reduced or axed bus services is continued in Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire and Bath.

At the same time, the number of homes in the area is set to rise by at least 137,950 by 2026 and these proposals will only increase the numbers of cars on our local roads. We need to make some serious changes if we are the reverse the trend of increasing road traffic.

The Government only recently set out proposals, which it says will help rural communities in the South West thrive in the 21st century. What it didn't say much about was rural transport.

It's not surprising people are angry, and are writing letters and raising petitions.

At a time when we are being urged by the Government to reduce our carbon emissions, it seems that our politicians continue to show that their words don't match their actions.

They have given up (or more correctly have not even started) to provide a rural public transport service, choosing to leave it to "the market". Well, "the market" for us locally is First and for the company it is a business; if it doesn't make a profit, we can't have a rural transport system.

From the bus company's point of view, it needs to carry enough fare-paying passengers to enable it to at least cover the cost of providing the service and if possible earn a profit for shareholders.

So if you really believe that First is capable of delivering a rural service that "works" while meeting its corporate objectives, then you're living in the same blinkered world as our politicians.

First has failed to provide a service for rural villages (service being defined as "meeting the need"). It may be OK at providing "showcase" routes but, even then, we, the local taxpayers, have been paying to provide raised curbs rather then insist that the service provider uses the right sort of vehicle.

Raised curbs are a blight on our environment and have been appearing everywhere like molehills impacting on the appearance of our rural area.

First has been using old single decker buses, which belch out vast quantities of diesel fumes into the atmosphere, and jam our country lanes and narrow village streets. If this is the best that First can manage, then maybe we should be looking for a better alternative.

Our last survey in the North Somerset parish of Wrington showed what is probably a realistic picture for rural communities, with 71 per cent of all age groups highly reliant on the car for all travel, the principle use being for work, leisure and shopping.

If we are going to attract people out of their cars we are going to need to provide rural services that go where and when people want to go, and are at a reasonable cost. We know that rural transport services will need a radical change to encourage people out of their cars, so if the Government is serious about tackling climate change we will need them to put our money where its mouth is and fund these important services.

They seem more than ready to pour money into roads that encourage more cars, emissions and congestion, which impact on our health.

It's tempting to blame local authorities – they could do more to work with their local communities. In some parts of the country, partnership working is helping bring forward innovative solutions.

Public transport discriminates against rural areas. It makes assumptions that those who live in rural areas are wealthy and can fund their own transport. For those who are helped with free bus passes, these are no good if there's no bus available.

Central government needs to address the lack of funding that undermines joined-up public transport and community transport provision, and local authorities need to look for innovative and better co-ordinated ways of providing services in consultation with transport users.

Thankfully, what we do have in rural areas are a huge number of volunteers who raise money for community buses and give their time to helping their neighbours to get around.

These community bus facilities, though, are struggling because of lack of funding and the difficulty of finding volunteer drivers, particularly within the tight constraints of regulations.

What we need is for our local authority to rise to the challenge of providing services that support what's already in place and giving these services the opportunity to grow.

Many community buses are under-utilised because there is no funding available to employ drivers. And this is at a time when so many people are looking for jobs.

It will cost, but let's move that money being allocated for new roads to give us all the opportunity to make the right choices and leave our car at home or do without a car completely.

A large number of people already want to make those changes; it's just made frustratingly impossible by the lack of alternatives.

And on the trains, it's not just the elderly but young families who would like to make more use of rural rail services for work but can't do so because they can't get to the station. More of the same will not work.

What we need now is a completely different approach.

Georgie Bigg is chairman of the North Somerset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which is battling for a sustainable future for the English countryside.