We have received correspondence from TWC regarding this consultation:
As you will be aware within Telford & Wrekin the majority of bus services are operated commercially by Arriva. Commercial services are those which carry enough passengers to cover the cost of running the service through the fares and passes received. In some areas it is important to have a bus service but the number of passengers does not mean the service can cover its running costs. Historically the Council has subsidised these services to ensure that they can continue to run. The Council has more influence over the subsidised routes than it does over commercial services as we award the contracts for these services to be operated. The contracts were last awarded in 2010 and Arriva was the successful bidder to operate these services over the last five years. The Council now needs to renew these contracts but before commencing the procurement process the Council wishes to review these services to ensure they are necessary and affordable. Over the next 3 years the Council has an additional £35m of savings to find and therefore the Council needs to ensure that it can afford to operate these services over the lifetime of the contract – 5 years.
Recognising the lack of consultation that Arriva did as part of their changes the Council is planning to undertake a consultation on subsidised and cross border services from 2nd September to 13th October 2015. This consultation will ask for views on the services that the Council is planning to go out to tender for to understand whether there are any changes to these services or additional services that the public wish us to consider prior to finalising the tender documents. The consultation is also aiming to understand the need and importance of these routes to our local communities so that this information feeds into any review of services as part of this process.
From the 2nd September all of the information on the on the consultation including summary of bus services, proposed routes and timetables, maps and FAQs can be found here online at www.telford.gov.uk/info/20174/public_transport
The Council will also be undertaking a number of consultation events across the Borough where officers from the Council will be on hand to discuss plans and gain public opinion. The dates and locations for these events are as follows:
- Friday 11th September – Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Community Centre – 09:00 – 16:00
- Monday 14th September –Southwater 1 – 10:00 – 17:00
- Thursday 17th September – Princess Royal Hospital – 09:00 – 18:00
- Friday 18th September – Wellington Library – 09:00 – 19:00
- Tuesday 22nd September – The Place, Oakengates – 09:00 – 19:00
- Wednesday 23rd September – Newport Library – 10:00 – 18:00
- Thursday 24th September – Madeley Library – 10:00 – 18:00
- Friday 25th September – Dawley Town Hall – 09:00 – 14:00 (please note this date has changed from 16th September)
- Saturday 26th September – Southwater 1 – 10:00 – 16:00
You can provide your views by completing the online survey (www.telford.gov.uk/info/20174/public_transport) or by attending one of the consultation events.