West bus passengers to see 36 routes axed in funding row

Four services (the 963, 948, 967 and 680) will run until the end of the school year, rather than stopping in April

Bus passengers in the west of England will see further cuts to public transport with routes being axed.

From April, 36 of the regions 69 publicly-subsidised services will no longer be funded and will be withdrawn.

The cuts were signed off by the West of England combined authority (WECA) on Wednesday.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris blamed the decision on some councils paying "too small a transport levy".

Subsidised services facing withdrawal include the 506 Bristol City Centre to Southmead Hospital, 179 Bath to Midsomer Norton and the 185 Paulton to Trowbridge.

Five services will run until June, which include; 82 Paulton to Midsomer Norton to Radstock, 172 Bath to Paulton, 179 Midsomer Norton to Bath, 672 Blagdon to Bristol, 768 Midsomer Norton to Bath. And the 22 Twerton to Bath University is only being withdrawn during school holidays.

Referring to council leaders in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset, Mr Norris said cuts had to be made after budget freezes and the transport levy increase being less than inflation, a levy he said was "much lower than in other parts of the country".

'Not a solution'

Mr Norris told the meeting on Wednesday they have "about £20 a head per year" for their transport levy, compared to £60 a head for "ones at the top of the combined authorities" in other regions.

South Gloucestershire Council leader Toby Savage said many of the council's reserves were for specific areas and the council had contributed "as much as it can".

Mr Savage stressed some combined authorities had higher levies because of higher levels of transport, including the likes of trams and tubes.

From April, some passengers in Windmill Hill, Knowle, Brislington, St Annes and large parts of North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire, will be able to catch a new "dial-a-ride West Link minibus service".

The new "demand-responsive transport" minibus service will act almost like a shared taxi.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said cuts had to be made after some councils paying "too small a transport levy"

Despite kicking in at the same time some existing routes are withdrawn, Mr Norris denied this new service was replacing the subsidised service.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), some councillors warned the new service was not a solution in large urban areas and introducing it on a large scale so quickly could be reckless.

Mr Norris said he had asked if government funding given to WECA for transport could be used to "support bus services that are under threat".

However, he said the government had refused because of a rule that means the cash can only be spent on "new and innovative" ways.

WECA initially sent out a press release after the meeting saying 27 cuts would be axed, before later clarifying that 27 would be saved, and 42 were facing the axe.

A list was then sent out of services facing withdrawal, which was "not double-checked for accuracy" and only included 36 services.

A full list has since been released and the 36 services includes four (the 963, 948, 967 and 680) which will run until the end of the school year, rather than stopping in April.

Services to be withdrawn from April include:

506 Bristol city centre to Southmead Hospital

179 Bath to Midsomer Norton (will run until June)

672 Bristol to Blagdon (will run until June)

185 Paulton to Trowbridge

636 Whitchurch to Keynsham

640 Bishop Sutton to Keynsham

668 Peasedown St John to Bristol city centre

683 Keynsham to Wells

757 Combe Hay to Midsomer Norton

172 Bath to Paulton (will run until June)

178 Midsomer Norton to Brislington Park and Ride

752 Hinton Blewett to Bath city centre

754 Hinton Blewett to Radstock

768 Bath bus station to Radstock and Midsomer Norton (will run until June)

52 Hengrove Park to Bristol city centre

516 Knowle to Hengrove Park

622 Chipping Sodbury to Cribbs Causeway

626 Wotton-under-Edge to Bristol city centre

511 Bedminster to Hengrove

512 Totterdown to Bristol city centre

513/514 Knowle to Brislington

17 Southmead Hospital to Kingswood

82 Radstock to Paulton (will run until June)

84/85 Yate to Wotton-under-Edge

623 Hollywood Lane to Cribbs Causeway

634 Tomarton to Kingswood

663 Somerdale to Chandag Road

664 Keynsham to Saltford

665 Somerdale to Longmeadow Road

684 Wick to Keynsham

22 Twerton to Bath Uni (only withdrawn during school holidays)

202 Chipping Sodbury to Winterbourne

963 Patchway to Bradley Stoke and Winterbourne (This will run until the end of the school year)

948 Pucklechurch to Mangotsfield and Sir Bernard Lovell School (This will run until the end of the school year)

967 Westerleigh to Chipping Sodbury School and Brimsham Green School (This will run until the end of the school year)

680 North Yate to Chipping Sodbury and SGS College Filton (This will run until the end of the school year)