(12 Nov 2016, 9:43 pm)Andreos1 wrote I was debating whether or not to put this in the Press Cuttings thread, but plumped for the more political thread.

There has been mention in the media over the last few days about how cuts to subsidies (and the failure of operators to fill the gaps commercially), have left communities isolated.

Links to an article will follow, but I found this excellent interactive info graphic relating to the cuts by authority.

http://bettertransportmaps.org.uk/map-bu...-2015.html

Https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.mirror....-orange-gb

This report comes barely days after figures showing passenger numbers are dropping. 
Whilst the two may be connected, I wonder what will be or could be done, to reverse these trends?



In truth - very little. You'll note it shows TFGM as accelerating cuts in Gtr. Manchester, with 26 services withdrawn in 6 financial years. Since then a further 14 were withdrawn this Summer - albeit 5 were commercial, with another 9 (mostly commercial) a fortnight ago. For (supposedly) legal reasons, there are only two aspects of TFGM's budget that can be cut, and that's staff costs (ie. jobs) and subsidised bus services. With 6% of the total budget to be cut every year until 2020/21, that means much deeper service cuts to come. Extra money was found in the early years of this decade to fund replacements for commercial withdrawals (mainly by First), but these eased between 2012 & 2014. Unfortunately, the trend has now been reversed and notably, its not just First withdrawing services.

In theory, the Bus Services Bill is one of the few hopes, not least because it will allow cross-subsidy. Even then, it will need both the money and the political will to say that non-motorists are equal to motorists, and so buses should not be abandoned in favour of rail. Some of the most recent commercial withdrawals are not being considered for even partial replacement because there are Metrolink lines nearby......which is the main reason for the services being de-registered in the first place!

Of course, the problem gets progressively worse as other public services (not least Health) are also cutback and concentrated in areas remote to the patient/end user. The cost (in time as much as fares) of accessing these services is yet another reason for the vicious circle of increased car ownership/usage and bus patronage reduction.