Residents are being invited to give their feedback on proposed routes for subsidised bus services in the Royal Borough from 2024 to ensure buses will call at the key destinations people travel to.
In the borough, around half of the bus routes are currently subsidised and the council invests £1.1 million a year to support these. Every few years, bus companies are asked to compete for the contracts to run these services, as a way to ensure the council gets best value for the funding it provides.
The current contracts come to an end next summer, and the council is now seeking feedback on the proposed locations and streets where buses will call within the new package of routes that it will ask bus companies to compete for.
A consultation runs until Wednesday 20 December and residents can give their views by taking part in the surveys at https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/bus
The council has looked first and foremost to build on the current network, rather than start afresh. However, passenger feedback through previous resident and stakeholder engagement, usage data and discussions with bus operators have shown that since supported bus services were last reviewed, there have been some important changes.
These include changing traveller habits arising from Covid, including a reduction in passengers that use a bus pass compared to pre-pandemic levels, combined with inflation, and increased running costs for bus companies. Alongside this council finances are under significant pressure.
The council, therefore, needs to make some changes while ensuring that the impact on those that use buses is minimised and that’s there’s coverage across as much of the borough as possible.
Councillor Geoff Hill, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “Our bus contracts are more than five years old, but things have changed significantly since before the pandemic and we have seen a change in passenger behaviour and reduction in people travelling with a bus pass, alongside increased running costs for bus companies and the council.
“We now want residents’ views on the proposed routes for subsidised bus services in the Royal Borough from 2024 to ensure they meet user needs and want to understand whether there are any additional streets that they believe the routes should specifically connect to.
“Please do take the time to look at the proposed streets carefully that the buses will be serving in our communities and give us your views, or let us know if there any gaps based on your own needs and the places you want to travel to.”
If you don’t have online access, you are welcome to use the public-access computers available at all local libraries, where staff are happy to help you get online if needed. If you require paper copies of the of the consultation documents and survey, these are also available from all libraries upon request. You can also respond in writing to Transport Policy Manager, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF.