Council chiefs say a one-off subsidy has been agreed with bus operators to help keep services running for the next year across Staffordshire.
The Department for Transport has confirmed a new round of grants for the industry until March 2023, but Staffordshire County Council says a number of routes run by commercial operators are running at a loss.
As a result, the authority says it will provide a year of “temporary support” while bus companies try to rebuild passenger numbers to pre-pandemic levels.
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said:
“Around 95% of bus services in Staffordshire are entirely commercial and many of these have been running at a loss for some time.
“During and after the pandemic the Government has injected millions of pounds into the bus industry to keep services afloat, but despite their latest commitment we still face a difficult situation locally and people may notice changes.
“The County Council has been doing all it can to help by paying £7million a year for the concessionary fare scheme over the last 30 months, even though actual passenger numbers are far below that.
“We’re now putting more money into Staffordshire routes to try and tide them over the difficult times while they attract passengers back and to also ensure people can still get to work, school, or college especially when the cost of living is so high.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
In recent years threatened commercial routes have been saved by using money contributed by housing developers to improve community facilities, and by moving around 2,000 pupils entitled to Home to School transport from bespoke buses to public services.
This additional sum will be worth £750,000 on top of the £8million spent in the sector annually by the authority, not including home to school transport.
But Cllr Williams said the long term future of services would be at risk if passengers did not return to the buses.
“Public transport in Staffordshire is largely based on commercial bus services, which not only get people to and from work and the classroom, but support town centre retail and leisure businesses and help reduce carbon emissions by leaving the car at home.
“This support is a one-off and lasts for 12 months. I don’t know what the situation will be like in a year’s time, but if people value their local bus services we should encourage that they be used now or they may disappear in future.”
Cllr David Williams, Staffordshire County Council
