PLANS to upgrade Somerset’s bus network have hit a snag as the government has provided less than one-tenth of the required funding.
Somerset County Council put together a bus service improvements plan (BSIP) following a request from the Department for Transport (DfT) under the government’s ‘bus back better’ initiative.
The council submitted a request to the government for £163am, with the plan formally taking effect on April 1 and the improvements being phased in over a ten-year period. But the DfT has only provided £11.9m of funding for Somerset out of a £7bn pot – just over seven per cent of what officers estimated would be needed.
Somerset’s allocation of £11.9m compares poorly to three of its close neighbours, with Devon receiving £14.1m, Cornwall pocketing £23.5m and the wider West of England and North Somerset receiving a whopping £105.5m.
A Somerset County Council spokesman said, “11 million pounds falls well short of our aspiration to transform bus services in the county, but we have always known that it will require a sustained campaign and not just a single funding round to achieve the ambitions we outlined in the Somerset BSIP. We’ll work closely with the DfT to wisely target the funding we have received and to make the case for more.
“It is likely that a county deal, much more likely after the new unitary Somerset Council comes into being, will give us the next opportunity to deliver the vision for bus services that the county deserves.”
Transport secretary, Grant Shapps MP, recently stated that the funding would help to correct the historic imbalance of transport funding in favour of London and the south east.
He said, “Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country – but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal. The investment we’re making today to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.”
The Somerset Bus Partnership, which campaigns for more frequent and better-funded bus services across the county, has expressed its disappointment at the government’s announcement – with co-chairman Peter Travis describing it as “a slap in the face for the county and its bus passengers”.
He added, “Only those who believe a glass that’s seven per cent full is better than a glass that’s 93 per cent empty can possibly welcome this news.
“Somerset has the lowest-rated bus services in England and the second-lowest bus journey per head – and yet transport accounts for nearly half of all our county’s carbon emissions.
“If any local transport authority deserved a generous award to improve its bus services, it is Somerset.”