Bus services set to continue across Cambridgeshire

us services across the county will be discussed at the Economy and Environment Committee meeting on Thursday (February 7).

Whilst the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority’s bus review continues and options are worked on, it’s important existing bus services are protected.

From April, it is proposed all Cambridgeshire County Council funded bus services will continue after the county council and the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority agreed funding for the next year.

The Combined Authority has asked Cambridgeshire County Council to continue providing bus service policy and delivery on its behalf for one more year while opportunities for radical reform of the network are explored.

Cllr Ian Bates, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Chairman of the Economy and Environment Committee, said: “We have agreed this short-term fix for us, as the local authority, to fund and continue working with the bus operators on services across the county.

“It is vitally important that residents have the necessary transport links in place and I’d like to reassure the public that county council funded bus services which are currently in place will continue. We have already started to re-tender services, which were due to end in March, to ensure services are maintained without interruption.”

Mayor James Palmer said: “The change that is needed to our bus network will be delivered to an ambitious timetable, but cannot happen immediately. While our work to explore the potential of options like franchising and enhanced partnerships continues, it is important that there is continuity of delivery.

“Our new bus taskforce will also seize opportunities to improve services quickly, so people can start to see improvements in the short term.

“While the Combined Authority has previously stepped in to keep certain threatened bus routes going, these sticking plasters are simply not sustainable.

“We must bring forward a strategic, cost effective and long-term solution for buses, that brings the network into the 21st Century, and serves as a model for others to follow.”

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority’s bus review went live on 24 January and more information can be found here - http://cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/news/review-highlights-opportunity-for-radical-reform-to-cambridgeshire-and-peterborough-bus-network/