New transport proposals announced

Plans to save £750,000 by replacing under-used bus services with more flexible forms of transport have been announced.

Leicestershire County Council has laid out plans to consult residents about a new bus policy for Leicestershire.

The proposals will consider rolling out schemes such as demand responsive transport (DRT), which enables customers to pre-book public transport in advance, more widely.

Lesley Pendleton, County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: There are a number of bus services running across Leicestershire that are under-used and subsequently heavily subsidised by the council.

We have some tough savings to make - £74m over a four year period – and need to ensure the residents of Leicestershire are getting good value for money.

In order to address this we are looking to review our current bus policy and will consider other ways of enabling residents who live in areas where bus usage is low to access essential services.

This could include the introduction of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes.

There are a number of DRT schemes already running in the county and the response we have had from residents who use them has been good.”

The County Council currently provides, in conjunction with the commercial bus network, a day time (Monday to Saturday) bus service of an hourly frequency, or better, within an 800 metre walk for 95 per cent of the county’s residents.

However, these services are subsidised, with the worst performing costing the authority around £12 per passenger per journey.

The final proposals will be considered by the council’s Cabinet on April 3 and a consultation will be carried out before any final decisions made.

NB: The county council provides around 15 per cent of the county’s bus network

ENDS

Info on DRT (Demand Responsive Transport)