Plymouth bus service cuts to help fill funding gap

The 31 bus is one of the services set to be cut by the council

Some people in parts of Plymouth say cuts to bus services will make it more difficult to get into the city centre.

The city council is withdrawing funding from five of 14 routes across the city to help fill a £37.6m gap in next year's budget.

Some passengers condemned the cuts but the council said keeping all 14 routes was not affordable and the five services would end on 30 December.

The council said retaining all 14 routes would cost up to £1m a year.

Annette Price often catches the 31 bus which runs between Pennycross and the city centre - one of the routes being withdrawn.

She said: "There are far more people here who are elderly and couldn't make it to Mutley Plain or Pennycomequick.

"What else do we do, sit home, watch television and wait to die?"

Annette Price uses the 31 Stagecoach service which is being withdrawn

Paul Reeby, who has problems with his mobility due to having three knee replacements, also uses the 31 bus service.

He said: "I go into town, I meet my stepdaughter in town for a coffee, I do shopping and generally have a browse around.

"It's better than sitting indoors."

Paul Reeby, who has problems with his mobility due to having three knee replacements, uses the 31 bus service

A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: "This was one of a number of proposals to address the unprecedented £37.6m shortfall in our revenue budget for next year and followed a procurement exercise where all tenders came back over-budget.

"Retaining all 14 routes could have cost up to £1m a year and, given the severe financial pressures we are under, this is simply not affordable.

"Six options were considered resulting in the loss of between five and nine bus routes.

"These options looked at the usage, cost, impact and purpose of each of the routes."

Council members voted in favour of option six, which would see nine routes saved.

However, the council said support for services 19, 31, 39 and 44A would be withdrawn and services still running would end on 30 December.

The 54 service only runs in the summer and has already ended.

Bus company Stagecoach said it was for the city council to comment but added some of the services would be covered by new routes 4 and 4A. No further details have been released.

Plymouth CityBus did not respond.

The council said it would "not have been practical" to hold a period of public consultation prior to the decision, nor was there a statutory requirement to do so.

The local authority said full details of the options considered were set out in the Non-Commercial Routes Options Report.

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