As planned, I attended last night's meeting of Polmont Community Council and raised my concerns with everyone who was there including Councillor Gordon Forrest. 
I was suggested that I could contact McGill’s directly and suggest a way on how it would work financially. 
Unfortunately, the existing service is operated on a commercial basis and therefore the council have no control over it. However, another possibility would be to provide a direct service on a trial run to see how well it would work. If that isn't commercially viable, they could instead look into alternative ways such as the provision of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) where journeys would have to be booked in advance or a service with local authority subsidy (if they can get the money to do so). 
If this was to work in the long term, all sides concerned would have to play their part. For example, the operator & local authority (if they're involved) would have to make the use of the service encouraging and as many people as possible would have to use it.
The split to the route happened in October 2020 when social distancing was a legal requirement and the service was still under the control of First. McGill's took over in September 2022 and since then the fleet has improved to a certain degree especially with the introduction of new electric buses but some of the vehicles (particularly on subsidised routes) are over a decade old and are showing their age.
I was recommended to contact my local newpaper the Falkirk Herald (along with editor Jill Buchanan & Deputy Editor Fiona Scobie) by PCC chair Michael Stuart who has posted the link to my petition on Facebook & Instagram and forwarded it to the PCC contacts (including the Ward 8 - Lower Braes Councillors), the Ward 9 Councillors (Upper Braes), Euan Stainbank MP & Michelle Thomson MSP on my behalf. I am now aiming to get around 500 signatures before the next meeting on 23rd February so please keep signing & sharing in the meantime.