Council bosses have been warned they won’t get government money to improve bus services if they don’t act now to rewrite previously rejected plans.
Staffordshire County Council asked for £113million, but was unsuccessful after feedback from the Department for Transport (DFT) revealed the authority hadn’t provided sufficient detail in its plans.
A council officer told a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee:
“They liked a lot of what was in our plan, but they said it lacked specific detail.
“We talked about introducing key corridors but didn’t specify what they were, for example.
“They also thought there wasn’t a joined-up link between what we said were the issues and what we said were the fixes. As such they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what they’d get if they gave us the money.
“That’s why we need to rewrite it, because they made it very clear if we don’t rewrite it we won’t get future money.”
Councillors also heard that bus services across the county have declined from a peak of 22 million passenger journeys per year in 2009 to around 12 million just before the pandemic – and the number has fallen even further since then.
Cllr Jonathan Price said:
“Since the pandemic, an increased number of bus services have required support from the authority for them to remain viable.
“To date, this has been achieved through the authority using government grants to pay for it.
“Although the county council does not run buses, the authority has a role in shaping public transport provision in Staffordshire acting in it role as the local transport authority.
“The role of the authority is one of coordination and operators must undertake activities to develop the Staffordshire bus network.
“A revised Bus Service Improvement Plan would have wide ranging benefits for our rural and urban areas alike.
“A high quality and sustainable bus network could support the Staffordshire economy by providing access to employment, education and training opportunities and increasing footfall in our town centres.
“A more reliable network could also encourage regular and new users to consider public transport as a preferred travel option, and hopefully that would increase numbers.”
Cllr Jonathan Price
