Some Herefordshire subsidies are comparable with Uber fares
Herefordshire Council's been asked to show its latest figures
Some Herefordshire bus services are being subsidised at per-person rates comparable to an Uber or taxi journey, new figures show.
Herefordshire Council was asked via a Freedom of Information request to list all the financial support contracts it had with the county’s bus operators over the past two financial years.
Its answer revealed that the total it paid out more than doubled from 2024/25, when it was £1,567,680.37, to £3,663,202.92 in the year to this April.
The council was also asked what the passenger numbers were for each of service or group of services that it supports over the last financial year.
This showed that typically, the council supports services at a rate that ranges from pennies up to around £7 per passenger trip.
But two contracts stand out as much more costly to the council per passenger journey.
One with Yeomans, for the 489, 498, 502 and 507 services was valued at just over £190,000, but with just 5,112 trips recorded, this indicated a subsidy cost per trip of £37.19.
Another contract, for the 420A Bromyard-Worcester service operated by Bromyard-based DRM, was worth £121,800 to support 3,804 journeys, at a cost to the council of £32.02 each.
For comparison, ride-hailing service Uber’s cheapest quoted fare between Bromyard and Worcester is £24.95.
The council’s answer cautions: “Data for patronage comes from a third-party supplier and the reports aren’t always complete.
“Also, due to some routes being commercial and partially subsidised, we rely on operators to send their figures, which they aren’t obliged to do if we aren’t funding the entire service.
“Where we subsidise a route, it’s usually a small portion or adding extra journeys to assist residents.”
Its answer also confirmed that all direct revenue, that is, fares collected from passengers, “is kept by the operator”.
The council was asked to confirm the figures and their interpretation, and to say whether it thought they represented good value for local taxpayers. It had not responded by time of publication.