Somerset Council to keep vital bus services on the road
The routes are subsided by government funding and the council transport budget.
82 bus services are being kept running this year by Somerset Council.
Many bus routes are subsidised by the council which they say otherwise wouldn't exist and help to link communities across the county.
About £2 million is provided from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and supports around 30 per cent of these routes. The Council’s public transport budget funds the other routes.
Services funded by the BSIP include the 25 between Taunton and Wiveliscombe, the 54 between Yeovil and Taunton, the 58 between Wincanton and Yeovil, the 126 from Wells to Weston-Super-Mare, which serves Axbridge and the surrounding villages, the 27 which connects West Buckland and Wiveliscombe, the 30 Frome Town Service and the 14 service linking Bridgwater to Cannington, plus many more.
Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services, Councillor Richard Wilkins said: “We support a huge range of bus services up and down the county, because if we didn’t, there is a very real chance they could be lost.
“Our priority as a council is to keep communities connected by keeping these vital services on the road – getting people to work, school, the shops, for a night out, or to explore our beautiful county.
“But we need people in Somerset to value and use their bus routes regularly – we know if people do, services can become sustainable and remain that way."
“We can’t keep supporting routes if people don’t use them, so wherever you’re going, make sure you try and bus it there at least once or twice a week.”
For this year, just over £6 million of BSIP funding (capital and revenue combined) was announced by Government. Safeguarding key services is secured, plus other measures this year will include:
• Additional and enhanced evening bus services and Sunday services in Bridgwater and Yeovil, feasibility studies for transport hubs in both towns, bus priority signal measures and other service improvements and trials.
• Taunton is receiving continued support for evening services, 1E, 21, 22, 28 and 30, serving Burnham-On-Sea Bridgwater, Wellington, Minehead and Chard. The £1 Park and Ride fare will be maintained and the development of Taunton’s Transport hub shall be given support, as well as the roll out of the Slinky Digital Demand Responsive Transport in Taunton, Wellington and the Bridgwater area.