Lancashire County Council has agreed to reverse planned cuts to over 100 bus routes with a £2m investment, however members conceded some areas would still be left without a service.
The council had been due to withdraw funding from 113 routes from April as part of £65m budget savings, but now 68 of those services will be saved on a full or partial basis.
The £2m investment will cover 26 routes, while bus companies have decided to operate 40 of the routes on a commercial basis.
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Communities in Lancashire will be left without a service
A further partnership deal with Chorley Council is set to save two more village services. The routes will be supported for an initial six months, with funding split 70% from Chorley Borough Council and 30% from Lancashire.
Cllr John Fillis, Lancashire's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: 'Some of these services will not operate as often as they do at the moment, but the new timetables will ensure there is a bus at peak times when people would most need them to access employment and education, and enough services to allow people to make vital appointments such as visiting the doctor's.
'We do recognise that despite this some areas will see major changes including the loss of their only service. I'd encourage people to help us to maintain these buses by using them regularly. I hesitate to use the phrase 'use it or lose it' but it's clear that the best way to keep these buses is to use them.’
The news comes after Transport Network reported that financial sweeteners in the local government finance settlement prompted some authorities to reverse planned cuts to transport spending.
You can see full details of the changes to buses due to be made from Monday 3 April here.
