Council bosses warned over rewriting plans to improve bus services

Staffordshire County Council asked for £113 million, but was unsuccessful.

Feedback from the Department for Transport (DFT) revealed the council hadn’t provided sufficient detail in its plans – which was why its bid was rejected.

A council officer said: “They liked a lot of what was in our plan but they said it lacked specific detail. We talked about introducing key corridors but didn’t specify what they were, for example.

“They also thought there wasn’t a joined-up link between what we said were the issues and what we said were the fixes.

“As such they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what they’d get if they gave us the money.

“That’s why we need to rewrite it, because they made it very clear if we don’t rewrite it we won’t get future money.”

Councillors heard that bus services across the county have declined from a peak of 22 million passenger journeys per year in 2009 to around 12 million just before the pandemic – and the number has fallen even further since then,

Buses clocking up just over eight million passenger journeys in 2022, despite buses being considered the area’s most important means of public transport.

Cllr Jonathan Price said: “Since the pandemic, an increased number of bus services have required support from the authority for them to remain viable. To date, this has been achieved through the authority using government grants to pay for it.

“Although the county council does not run buses, the authority has a role in shaping public transport provision in Staffordshire acting in it role as the local transport authority.

“The role of the authority is one of coordination and operators must undertake activities to develop the Staffordshire bus network.”

He continued: “A revised Bus Service Improvement Plan would have wide ranging benefits for our rural and urban areas alike.

“A high quality and sustainable bus network could support the Staffordshire economy by providing access to employment, education and training opportunities and increasing footfall in our town centres.

“A more reliable network could also encourage regular and new users to consider public transport as a preferred travel option, and hopefully that would increase numbers.”

Council officers said many bus pass holders hadn’t gone back to using buses in the same numbers as other passenger groups and that this is leading to some routes becoming less viable.

Current numbers indicate a decrease of a third of passengers using a bus pass compared with before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, bus companies face increases of 20 per cent in the cost of fuel and staff costs up by 30 per cent which is adding to the problem.

A council officer estimated it would cost up to £5 per passenger to subsidise some routes – which the authority says is unaffordable.

He said other options included reducing the frequency of services or changing routes.

He also said it was difficult to entice concessionary pass holders back onto buses as they get their journey for free so there aren’t any further incentives available.