A major reform of how bus services in West Cumbria are subsidised by Cumbria County Council and new bus tenders for the area will be considered by Cabinet next week (June 10).
The paper is the latest piece in a wide-ranging project which has used extensive public research and consultation to create the fairest possible system for calculating which unprofitable bus services should be subsidised by the county council.
Around 90% of Cumbria's buses are commercially run - and therefore not subsidised and have not been part of the review. But the county council spends around £2million a year subsidising bus routes where commercial operators do not run services because they are not profitable.
The Transforming Passenger Transport review was kickstarted in November 2006, when Cabinet agreed that a set of criteria should be applied to how the county council subsidises its bus services. This was to ensure that passengers could use their bus to access key service centres so they could get to work, do their shopping, visit the doctor or dentist and access other public services.
A major public consultation was carried out in November 2007 across the whole county to build a picture of who uses the county's buses as well as why and where they use them. 10,000 questionnaires were distributed on buses asking passengers what route they were on, where they got on and off, what time of day they got on the bus, how frequently they used it, why they were travelling (eg work, shopping, education, health care, leisure etc) and whether they had any alternative transport for the journey. The county council received 2,000 questionnaire responses and this feedback, along with information gathered at 16 'drop-in' sessions held around the county, has built a comprehensive picture of bus usage in Cumbria. It has been vital in helping to decide where the county council should prioritise its resources and assessing how passengers will be affected.
Analysis of how much it costs Cumbrian taxpayers to support bus services reveals that some buses cost over £24 per passenger per journey to run and are poorly used and not necessarily helping people to access key service centres. The countywide review has not been driven by cost alone, in fact some services have been retained because the public consultation revealed they are well valued and used by local communities for key reasons.
Changes to services in West Cumbria have been implemented after the rest of the county because there was due to be a general retendering of subsidised services anyway in this area and the county council wanted to minimise any disruption to passengers by only making changes to services after the retendering exercise had taken place. All changes to services in West Cumbria will take effect from 1 September 2008.
As part of the review, there will be an extension of the Rural Wheels demand responsive transport service into rural areas of West Cumbria. Some services have been improved, some amended and a small number removed all together (see appendix in attached paper for full details). Key changes include an improved 222 service between Workington and Whitehaven via Pica and Gilgarron, and more direct no.58 services between Maryport and Cockermouth. There will also be more low-floor vehicles operating in West Cumbria.
The changes will result in net savings of some £114,000 - something which has been necessary after Cumbria has suffered a reduction in the amount of money it receives from the Government to support bus services. In 2003/4 the county council received just under £400,000 through the government's Rural Bus Challenge and Urban Bus Challenge schemes, however these schemes were reduced to £106,000 funding in the last financial year and have now been removed all together.
Cllr Ian Stewart, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member for passenger transport, said:
"This has been an exhaustive exercise that we've carried out to ensure that taxpayers' money is spent as wisely as possible in getting the right people to the right places for the right reasons. These recommendations put West Cumbria in line with the rest of the county and ensure the bigger picture is being met in terms of subsiding the correct routes for the correct reasons. We simply can't justify running empty buses at enormous expense when alternative options are available to passengers.
"One particularly encouraging development in West Cumbria is that more and more small bus operators are now prepared to run scheduled services. I hope that this increased competition among bus operators will encourage more people to hop onto a bus rather than getting into their cars. The more people use buses, the more sustainable they will become - reducing the burden on the public purse."
ENDS
Please note: Cumbria County Council's media team telephone numbers have now changed.
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 226332
Notes
The Cabinet paper and appendix are attached and give details of which services will be affected. Table 1 shows services which meet the key criteria, Table 2 details services which will meet the key criteria once alterations have been made and Table 3 shows services that do not meet the criteria and will be withdrawn.
In 2007/8 an average of £4.85 per person in Cumbria was spent on supporting passenger transport.
The main aims of the criteria introduced in the Transforming Passenger Transport review are:
- To provide some level of transport service for all residents of Cumbria.
- To recognise how existing bus services work alongside other options such as Rural Wheels, community bus schemes and voluntary car schemes.
- To concentrate resources on main routes so that passenger numbers can be grown and people can travel by bus between key settlements.
- To allow the council to respond equitably to commercial service withdrawals and requests for new services.
- To recognise the importance of being able to access key functions such as employment, health services, education and shopping needs.
Follow this link to view the cabinet paper