Wheels fall off the bus for council’s transport vision due to lack of funds

Shire Hall bosses want buses to be the de-facto choice for people to get around Gloucestershire but they just don’t have the money to make it a reality.

Gloucestershire County Council chiefs faced dozens of questions from residents yesterday who raised serious concerns about the state of public transport.

The authority’s bus service improvement plan from November says they firmly believe that a high functioning bus service can deliver sustainable transport choices for all residents.

More than just functional uses such as getting to work, education or training, the council’s ambition is that buses should aim to be a “de-facto choice for all transport requirements” in the county.

But Jenny Inglis, a member of the public who quizzed council chiefs about transport matters, said more and more people are being forced to abandon buses and rely on their own cars.

She said: “It’s a downward spiral of fewer and fewer bus services, forcing more and more people into car ownership, meaning more and more bus cuts.

“Meanwhile those who can’t drive are completely stuck. People can’t get home from work. The elderly can’t meet friends on Sundays.

“Lone females are being left to hitchhike home in the cold and the dark. Teenagers can’t access shift work. Carbon emissions, air pollution and congestion are going to increase.”

She asked how the county council hopes to achieve its aim of making buses “the de-facto choice for all transport requirements”.

Bus transport cabinet member Philip Robinson (C, Mitcheldean) said nobody was more frustrated than he is having to work with the financial constraints the council faces.

He lamented that the authority missed out on funding from the Government’s bus transformation programme.

“The council is committed to that plan but along with the vast majority of county councils in his country we were unsuccessful with our bid,” he said.

“It would have been around £40 million. That was a great disappointment.

“Because that money wasn’t forthcoming and because we are already under these massive inflationary pressures. We put 80% on top of all subsidies contracts last year. Another 8% to go next year. It will just keep things going.”

He explained that to provide one bus with one driver for weekdays costs a minimum of £200,000 a year.

The council has increased the subsidy of public transport in the last two years to at least maintain the subsidised network, he said.

He acknowledge that there are serious challenges facing the transport and bus industry which include inflation, reduced bus usage which is down a quarter since 2019 and the Governmnent is expected to pull the plug on support funding from April.

“This does not make it easy to develop innovative solutions like free transport, but as we move forward and look at the long-term strategic picture for the county the council is very keen to look at all opportunities to grow the use of public transport,” he said.

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk