Bus changes planned for subsidised city services

[davieG]

Subsidised bus services in Leicester are to be revamped as the council aims to cut funding by £200,000.

The 10/11 inner ring service and the service 36 will be stopped while 10 other routes will either be amended, replaced by a dial a ride service, or left untouched.

 

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   Sir Peter Soulsby has announced changes to Leicester bus routes

   
   
   

The proposals were announced today by City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and will be subject to four weeks’ public consultation.

Sir Peter said: “The city council is having to make savings from its current annual budget for supported bus services, meaning its budget will fall from £500,000 a year to £300,000 a year.

 

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“While a number of these supported bus services really do provide a vital link for passengers, others rely on a very large council subsidy and are used by very few passengers.

“We are working closely with the Bus Users’ Panel, Leicester Disabled People’s Action Group, bus companies and the county council on these proposals. The consultation is a chance for other people who use the buses to get involved in that decision-making process.”

The routes in question involve 500,000 journeys a year but only represent 1.4 per cent of the city’s total bus traffic.

Each route was examined against use, subsidy and need.

The 40 outer ring service will be retained as it was used by 249,713 people and attracts subsidies worth £124,000 - about 50p a journey.

Sir Peter said: “This is very important route used, for example, by people working at Beaumont Leys and in the Troon Way area.”

However, the 10/11 route only attracted 38,682 passengers over the year attracting a subsidy of £5.16p per passenger journey and will be axed.

The proposals were outlined to a meeting of the Bus Users’ Panel on Thursday.

Panel member Paul Southwood said: “The proposals do not fully take into consideration the needs of senior citizens or people with disabilities.

“The proposals involve more people having to change buses to complete journeys. That will cause a great deal of inconvenience.”

Mr Southwood, who is the disability officer for Leicester and District Trades Union Congress, added: “We came up with proposals about improving services and saving money but we have not even had that acknowledged by the city.”

The consultation will start on Monday June 17 and last four weeks.

The city council executive will make a decision on the proposals towards the end of August.

The new arrangements will come into force in October if they are approved by the Traffic Commissioner.

For full details of the bus proposals annouced by Sir Peter Soulsby click here: (PDF)

[Rincewind]

Thought it was going to be subsidies for OAP. Would have been the story of my life as I qualify on July 6th.

Not saying I should or shouldn't get it but it is bad luck for it to be in place for years then removed as one qualifies.

 

I've noticed with some services like Oadby they are every ten minutes and are half empty yet elsewhere they are every 30 minutes and jammed packed.