Subsidised buses across the West of England have been given a reprieve after the region’s elected leaders finally hammered out a deal. Marathon negotiations behind closed doors lasting four-and-a-quarter hours between metro mayor Dan Norris and the leaders of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils succeeded in breaking a deadlock over who pays how much.
The rescue package means an initial seven-month extension to current contracts for the 80 supported bus services, which are important routes serving areas like rural communities and hospitals but are not commercially viable so have to be propped up with public money. It will allow time for an urgent review of where buses should run across the region ahead of new four-year contracts for services, including brand new ones, being agreed with operators, with the new timetable kicking in from next April.
The political leaders agreed that supported services will be funded through contributions from the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), led by Labour’s Mr Norris, and the three local councils which comprise it. They also agreed that any subsidised routes in future would be subject to a “value for money mechanism”, a suggestion that had created an impasse and was largely to blame for the urgent talks being adjourned without agreement last month.
