Residents will be kept on the move for years to come as the Royal Borough plans to increase its investment into local bus services by hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The proposed funding would bridge the gap between the end of a number of current contracts and an ongoing tendering process to find a more permanent solution. Further funding would also allow the existing network to be retained through to July 2022.
A report being presented to cabinet on Thursday 27th 2017, April is recommending the council approve funding in the short term and over the next four years to secure the future of these vital services.
Cllr Hari Sharma, bus champion for the Royal Borough, said: “Residents can rest assured that we are committed to doing what we can to keep the local services they need at the centre of the public transport network.
“This proposed increase in our investment into bus services will give people peace of mind while we work with bus operators to secure the details of longer-term provision. We want to be clear that there will be no sudden end to services.
“As part of the tendering process we are open to any alternative arrangements that continue to meet residents’ needs and we look forward to being able to provide further details of these plans once the exercise is complete.”
Cllr Phill Bicknell, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “As we build a borough for everyone the way we develop the transport network must be at the centre of how we plan for the future.
“Measures such as this to ensure public transport continues to meet residents’ needs are at the heart of our wider infrastructure plans to match the new homes and amenities that will arrive through regeneration and the emerging Borough Local Plan.”
Currently a competitive tendering process is under way for the provision of bus services on routes 4/4A, 5/5A, 8, 16, 238/239 and the 305. The results of this will be announced soon with new services starting in August.
The recommended investments that will be put before cabinet later this month would increase the yearly total investment into bus services by £150,000 to £840,000.