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Information from Derbyshire County Council:

 Consultation on subsidised buses launched

Local residents are being asked their views on proposals to stop paying for local bus services and community transport to help DCC deal with the biggest budget cuts in our history.

By 2020, the funding we get from central government is expected to be more than a third less than in 2010.

This means we need to review what we spend on paying for local bus services which don’t carry enough passengers to be run commercially (subsidised buses).

We’re also reviewing the amount of money we give to Derbyshire’s six community transport schemes to run Dial-a-Bus (DAB) ‘shopping buses’.

We’re already scaling back on our support for DAB services meaning that from this year we will fund one of these trips a week for every community, town or village, to a nearby town centre or supermarket. Some areas currently have several services a week.

But we are now putting forward further proposals to help save £4.4m on transport costs.

The new proposals are to:

• Withdraw all county council funding for subsidised buses from October 2017. This means that unless they can be run commercially they will stop.
• Withdraw all county council funding for DAB services from October 2017. This means that unless they can be funded from elsewhere they will stop.
• Provide some funding – £1.3m – for a new Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service. This could be used by passengers currently using subsidised buses and those using DAB.
• Provide a new Door-to-Door Plus service for people who currently use DAB but would be unable to use the proposed DRT service.

DRT services would have to be booked. Passengers then turn up at a named location, on a specific day and at a given time. The drop off point is usually a nearby town.

Councillor Dean Collins, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said:

“We are facing unprecedented cuts and must review all our services, particularly those, like subsidised buses and community transport, that by law, we do not have to provide.

“We know from previous consultations that public and community transport is vital to helping people get out and about, enabling them to maintain their independence and wellbeing, but unfortunately, the fact is, we just don’t have the money to continue funding these services to the level we have previously, so we need to look at running things differently.”

Following previous consultation, from 1 April 2016, the Gold Card flat-rate return fare will increase from £2 to £3 after 67 per cent of Gold Card holders who responded to a proposal to raise the fare indicated they would be prepared to pay the higher price.

Originally it had also been proposed to withdraw funding for aCTive Travel journeys to healthcare services but these will now continue until 2020, using money from reserves.

Councillor Collins added:

“We do listen to residents’ feedback. This is why, although they could be run by a different operator, we are continuing with transport to healthcare for the most vulnerable, because it was clear from the original consultation that these were vital services for people who would have no other way of getting to essential appointments.

“No decisions have yet been made on these latest proposals and I would encourage people to take part in this new consultation so we are well aware of the public’s view of our plans.”

The consultation will run for eight weeks until Sunday 24 April 2016.

Take part in our transport consultation.

Printed copies will also be available from local libraries and community transport schemes.