St. David's residents want an evening bus service.

And St. George's South MP Mr. Rick Spurling has brought them together with Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess and Public Transportation Board director Mr. Herman Basden at a meeting planned for Monday night.

"I am quite convinced that St. David's needs better service,'' particularly in the early morning and in the evening, Mr. Spurling told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

After 6.15 p.m., St. David's Islanders dropped off at the main gate to the Base are hitchhiking or walking home which is unsafe, he said, adding that the issue is frequently raised when he canvasses.

Mr. Spurling, a Government backbencher, believed evening bus service to St.

David's was attempted when the Hon. Sidney Stallard was Transport Minister, but was discontinued. "We want to try it again,'' he said.

The closure and subsequent "opening up'' of the American Base to new development will mean more activity around St. David's, Mr. Spurling said.

He has raised the topic with Mr. Burgess on several occasions, he said.

"Obviously, he will rely to some extent on Herman Basden. But he is open to ideas and shows a willingness to help if something feasible can be developed.'' It was "hard to say'' how many St. David's residents would regularly use night service, should it be provided.

Mr. Spurling acknowledged that with the Base slated to close on September 1, there could actually be less traffic around St. David's in the short term.

"The US personnel that lived in the local community will not be there,'' he said. "I don't know, however, how many of them would use the local bus service.'' But the MP said he has heard "15 or 20 different ideas'' on how service to St. David's could be improved, including a mini-bus proposal.

The public meeting is slated for 8 p.m. today at the Black Horse Tavern.

Mr. Basden said increased service is based on "demonstrated demand.'' "I'm going to go down there and listen to what they want and have a look at it,'' he said.