The West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority has hit out at the number of planned bus route cuts at a time when the Government is trying to push sustainable methods of transport.
Bus operator First announced a 6% cut in services across the region as it looked to restructure its business to meet demand.
Dave Alexander, managing director for First in West and North Yorkshire, said: ‘In what is an extremely-challenging economic environment, we are demonstrating our flexibility by also looking hard to reduce our costs.’ But Cllr Chris Greaves, chairman of Metro, said the scale of the cuts was alarming and would ‘tear a hole in West Yorkshire’s transport network’.
‘Earlier this week, First reported that profits from its UK bus operations had risen by 9.8% to £134M but, at the same time, it is trying to justify these cuts by blaming them on the current economic downturn.
‘It shows a complete lack of imagination and business planning. At a time when the company should be attracting new partners, it is alienating existing ones.’
Meanwhile, Reading Transport Ltd (RTL) has been forced to restructure its fares after seeing a ‘very significant’ reduction in single fare passengers amounting to a £100,000 drop in revenues last month. It is launching a smartcard ticket system enabling passengers to a reduced fare when they buy advance tickets in bulk, while a number of service reductions will also be made to reflect the falling numbers.
James Freeman, chief executive of RTL, said: ‘We are not alone, as many other bus companies across the country are facing similar, if not worse problems.’ Latest Department for Transport figures show that passenger journeys on local buses in England rose by 1.3% last year. The DfT said this was driven by a 4.8% increase in bus patronage in London, while passenger journeys fell by 1.5% in the rest of England.
Alan Hill, chairman of the Association of Transport C0-0rdinating Officers’ bus executive, said: ‘It’s a fluid picture. We have success in areas of strong partnership working but bus services will always be lost if demand declines to the point of being uneconomical. Local authorities only have finite budgets.’
Last week, Wirral Council announced that an interim arrangement had been made with Merseyside Transport Services following Wirral Community Transport going into administration. The agreement will see Merseycare providing transport services for the council and local hospitals.
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