By Mark Smulian | 14 October 2011
Council spending cuts in England have led to a 20% reduction in the number of subsidised bus routes, the Campaign for Better Transport has said.
It found that a £36m total cut across England had led to 1,114 routes being either axed or reduced in frequency.
Among the 88 local transport authorities that responded to the campaign’s questions, 67 said they expected further cuts, or could not rule these out.
CBT bus campaigner Sophie Allain said: ‘Buses are cheap and they are essential to the economy, getting people to work and places where they spend money.
‘Our figures reveal a pretty bleak picture, but what’s more worrying is it’s set to get a lot worse.’
Bus services outside London are deregulated, which means that operators can run whatever services they judge profitable.
Councils might subsidise other services needed by local communities, and have in recent years faced heavier demands for this as operators drop routes they deem are no longer commercially viable.
The CBT pointed out that cuts to subsidised services could hamper government efforts to get more people into jobs, since commercial routes might not run at times needed to reach workplaces.
A further threat to routes is posed by a 20% cut due in the Department for Transport’s Bus Service Operators Grant from next year, removing some £99.1m from the industry.
