It looks like we are going to lose all our busses. Diamond Bus, a familiar sight across the county, has written to the County Council, and to all MPs, stating that they cannot continue to lose over £1million a year on the existing bus routes. If the council does not come up with a subsidy solution by August, Diamond has no option other than closing the routes altogether. That leaves us with no buses around Kidderminster and other towns in Worcestershire.
It is not a local problem. All rural bus routes are under threat one way or another. As people find alternative ways to get around – quite probably driven by, ironically, falling bus availability – there becomes less demand. The phrase “use it or lose it” has never been more relevant in what seems to be a final death spiral for rural buses.
But there is absolutely no way we can abandon those people who need buses and rely on them.
The council has always subsidised some routes. Back in 2010, when budgets were being cut, the council analysed bus route subsidies and discovered that in some instances, subsidies worked out at £65 per passenger. Frankly, we could have paid for a stretch limo for each passenger. This was not sustainable.
In trying to find a solution, I spent an afternoon this week with the policy unit at No10. It turns out that the solution could be a Brexit bonus.
EU rules meant that subsidies for transport could not be used in competition to bus companies. But now are out of the EU, those subsidies could be used to subsidise passengers of community groups like Dial A Ride. In Bromsgrove, a trial scheme known as Demand Responsive Transport is under way, where passengers indicate via an app what their requirements are, and the software responds by putting on a service that meets the demand where it is strongest. Of course, for some, they will have to travel at possibly inconvenient times, but it is more affordable and less damaging to the environment than existing services.
Society changes. We all buy stuff from Amazon and wonder why the high street closes. We travel by car and wonder why there are no buses. In time, there will be driverless Ubers that we can summon on our IPhone. But in the meantime, I can guarantee that we will not abandon those who need public transport. One way or another, we will find a solution.