Better Transport

70 bus services have already been cut or withdrawn because the council has cut its buses budget by £1.3 million in 2011. This equates to 54% of the counties supported bus network being affected. On top of this home to school transport will face severe cut backs.

Northumberland County Council has increased its support for buses this year.

The Local Transport Plan funding has been cut by approximately 50% therefore priority has been given to maintaining existing assets with only small scale, low cost highway schemes such as bus priorities planned.

Around £250,000 has been cut from the buses budget this year, although it is still unclear how many bus services will be lost as a result. Support for post-16 travel and denominational school travel is under threat, although the final decision has been deferred for one year.

The council has agreed to introduce a series of measures that will cut costs in public transport services, including a cut of at least £101,000 in supported services.

The budget for supported buses has dropped from £1,900,000 in 2010/11 to £1,700,000 in 2011/12. The number of bus services that have been reduced or withdrawn as a result is 16. The number of bus services that received subsidies in 2010/11 was 68 or 10% of the network.

The council has told us that 5 buses are being reduced or withdrawn this year. This is better than the 12 at risk bus services that were listed in the council minutes. The council has told us that this year the bus budget has actually gone up from £6,525,000 in 2010/11 to £7,083,000 in 2011/12. However council minutes make clear that reductions are likely into the future. Reducing Public Transport Information and the removal of the Real Time information service are the result of a further £275k budget reduction.

The transport authority in Manchester had to make savings of around £6.5 million in 2011/12. The concessionary fare for children increased from a flat 80 pence fare to half fare.

Merseytravel’s block funding grant from the Department for Transport has been slashed by two thirds. From September2011 the bus pass for post 16 students will be lost.

The amount spent on buses in 2010/11 was £1883035 and the amount allocated to buses in 2011/12 is £ 1962000. There have been no services lost due to subsidy cuts by this council. 

The council is continuing to support the same bus routes but there are now fewer buses running on those routes, and there will also be a pre-9.30am charge of 20p for concessionary fares.

The budget for buses was reduced by £38,000 in 2011/12 but so far we are not aware of any bus cuts as a result in the area.

In England’s largest county £600,000 has been cut from the bus budget, resulting in all supported evening, Sunday and bank holiday services being axed.

There have been 7 bus services withdrawn and 13 services reduced.

METRO are looking to review bus services to reduce spending by 25%.

The council agreed to cut the public transport budget by £1.2 million. The council pays for 15% of bus services in the county. This year the bus budget reduced from £5,800,000 in 2010/10 to £5,100,000 in 2011/12 and as a result 33 buses have been reduced or withdrawn.

Number of bus services that will be reduced or withdrawn is still unclear.  A review of bus policy is underway which is proposed to be adopted in April 2012 to deliver Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). Savings of £1 million during 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The council has cut 1 million from its buses budget, and as a result 84 bus services have been reduced or withdrawn, with 6 of these being routes that have disappeared altogether.

Northamptonshire have decided to phase out completely support for bus services and instead fund demand responsive services.  In total 95 buses, or 53% of the network received some support from the council in 2010/11, so the impact on the county will be huge. In July 2011 we were told that 17 buses had already been withdrawn and 11 had been reduced. A further 16 previously subsidised routes have been taken on commercially. 

Good news; the council plans to increase support for bus services this year and over the following two years. No bus cuts are anticipated.

The amount spent of supported buses in 2010/11 was £437479.16, and this dropped to £399558.79 in 2011/12.The council subsidises 11 buses, or 46% of the network. As far as we know this budget cut has only translated into two bus services being reduced or withdrawn this year.

All subsidised services were reviewed in the summer of 2011 for re-tendering, and the council ran a public consultation on the issue of bus subsidies.

So far 22 buses have been reduced or withdrawn by the council and 137,018 passenger journeys will be affected. The council have told us that they supported 95 buses or 53% of the network last year. The amount spent on buses 2010/11 was £3629544 although this has been reduced in 2011/12 to £3206045. There are 22 buses that have been reduced or withdrawn, although 6 of these will benefit from a council school bus replacing the service.

The council has stated its intention to protect their network of rural routes for as long as people use them, and has introduced a cut price bus fare scheme for young people. However bus cuts have been made because of cuts to the amount bus companies are paid for concessionary fares.

The council has decided to cut supported evening buses, and to cut back on faith school bus passes whilst also making savings from home to school and post 16 transport provision. Already 53 buses have been withdrawn or reduced.

The number of bus services that have been reduced or withdrawn is a huge 119.

The Authority behind Centro has cut back on its budget however how this will affect the bus network has yet to be seen.

A legal challenge against the Cambridgeshire County Council means a U-turn on bus cuts is likely, with the proposal to slash support by 100% support now under review. However 1,729,061 passenger journeys and 84 services across the Country remain at risk.

Already 27 bus services have been reduced or withdrawn as the council cuts bite. The number of bus services that received subsidies 2010/11 was 73 or 53% of the network, and council spending on bus support was £1,852,717. The amount allocated to buses this in 2011/12 was £1,392,992.

In Essex 18 buses have been reduced or withdrawn. The number of bus services that received subsidies in 2010/11 was 193 or 48% of the network. The amount spent on buses in 2010/11 was £11376577 and in 2011/12 this dropped to £11076846.

The council told us that 20 buses have been reduced or withdrawn effecting 127900 passenger journeys annually. In 2010/11 the council supported 268 bus or 58.4% of the network. In 2010/11 they spent £6,480,000 on supporting buses but in 2011/12 this was reduced to £6,289,000.

The council has reduced its budget for buses from £41000000 in 2010/11 to £25000000 in 2011/12, and 31 buses have already been reduced or withdrawn.

The county has reduced or withdrawn 45 buses, and the amount spent on subsidised buses has dropped from £3,981,599.32 in 2010/11 to £2,100,000 in 2011/12. Also the council is cutting its concessionary bus pass for young people.

Already 22 Sunday and evening bus services have been reduced or withdrawn.

£500,000 to be withdrawn from tendered buses over two years, which could mean higher fares and fewer buses. 18 council supported bus services have been reduced so far.

The council have reduced or withdrawn 112 buses and have reduced their spending on socially necessary buses from £6,900,000 in 2010/11 to £ 5,400,000 in 2011/12.

In November 2010 it was reported that the council was looking to cease its Wight Bus from 31 August 2011 (saving £75,000 in 2011/12 and £150,000 in a full year). However, from April 2011, bus operator Southern Vectis has reported that it will continue running all non-commercially viable services that the council currently funds.

The council is reducing its bus budget, 15 buses have been impacted and 408 journeys a day will be affected. Young people are also being asked to pay an additional £50 for their ‘freedom bus pass’.

The council plans to cut £2 million from their support for buses over the next few years. However, in 2011/12 the council tell us only 6 routes were reduced or withdrawn as a result of funding changes.

The councils’ spending on buses reduced by £1.7million in 2010. The council has been running a three phase consultation on their bus cuts plans.

The council told us that there had been no bus cuts yet, although 9 buses would shortly be withdrawn or reduced. The budget for supporting bus services has reduced from £1335536.2 to £1545165 between 2010/11 and 2011/12.  In 2010/11 the council subsidised 23 buses.

The council has decided to go ahead and cut £2 million from supported bus services over three years. There are 31 buses to be withdrawn or reduced as a result in 2011/12. Also the young people's discount bus fare card will now cost £50 per year.

Cuts to non-statutory concessionary travel could be on the cards as the council faces a 13.5% cut to its budget this year.

The council is reducing the times within which the concessionary passes are valid to the statutory minimum. By making savings in this way it hopes to have more money left to continue support for evening and weekend bus services. None the less 18 buses have been reduced or withdrawn and this impact 3000 passenger journeys annually.

Rural bus services in Devon are facing a cut of £1.3 million, putting socially necessary routes in jeopardy. The council has told us that 81 services have already been reduced or withdrawn. In better news Exeter bus campaigners are making an impact on fares.

The council have tried a new type of tendering for public transport, joining up school, social service and local buses to create what they hope will be a simpler and cheaper system.

Gloucestershire County Council has concluded the first stage of a consultation concerning a complete review of its current public transport network of 150 supported services as part of a plan to reduce bus subsidy by £2 million.

The 2011 budget proposals include cuts in funding to sustainable travel, road safety, public transport, school transport and concessionary fares. The number of bus services that received subsidies in 2010/11 was 28 or 58.3% of the network.

The council's decision to half it’s spending on supported buses will affect 12% of buses. This is better than first feared, but 54 buses have been reduced or withdrawn already.

No buses have been cut by the council.

There are 37 buses that are reduced or withdrawn as a result on cuts in the councils allocation for supporting buses. In 2010/11 the council spent £5482864 on supporting 134 buses, or 92% of the network. In 2011/12 the amount allocated was reduced to £4822860.

Bus cuts are also on the cards for Scotland, although according to the Scottish Parliament subsidised buses will only lose £200,000 this year. In most areas the number and depth of bus cuts have not yet been announced.

The Welsh Government has announced 25% cut to the Bus Service Operator Grant from April 1st 2012. This is a fatser and deeper cut than in England. The Local Transport Services Grant (LTSG) has also been cut by 27% in 2012/13. 

Bus operators bid to provide the services Transport for London wish to run, which makes things different than in the rest of the country. There has been a £5 billion cut to Transport for London’s budget over 5 years, but the authority tell us there will only be a marginal reduction in bus services.