Subsidised Bus Services
What are subsidised bus services?
Around 90% of public transport in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is run commercially with no involvement from the Local Authority, with only 10% receiving any form of financial support (or subsidy) from the Combined Authority. Some of the services only receive a partial subsidy, effectively operating commercially when passenger numbers are high, then operating on subsidy outside of these times.
The majority of subsidised services operate in the more rural areas of the county where passenger numbers are low or where the lengths of journey mean that operating costs are high, making the services unviable to operate commercially. On some of these services, the level of subsidy required is over £10 per person for a single trip. This does not represent good value for money, therefore the Combined Authority has to review these contracts.
Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG)
BSOG is a grant paid to operators of eligible bus services and community transport organisations to help them recover some fuel costs. The amount each bus operator receives is based on their annual fuel consumption. The document below features details on how this has been applied across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.
Local Transport Authority Covid Bus Service Support Grant
During the Covid pandemic the Department of Transport provided the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with funding amounting to £809,127 to maintain essential bus services that otherwise would not have operated. The services involved can be found at the below link and the funding enabled 1,402,110 miles to be operated.
For more information on the services that the CPCA subsidises please contact us at transportbusnetworkenquiries@cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk
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