Just as we finish writing our last blog post about Tory austerity, it would appear Essex County Council has the bus services in its sights.
Essex County Council
1. The level of service we fund in the evenings and
on Sundays. The evening journeys affected by
this consultation are listed in Appendix A and the
Sunday services affected are listed in Appendix B.
Only the Essex funded elements of any services
are affected – where elements of services are run
commercially these are not part of the consultation.
There are also 2 evening services where the cost per
passenger journey exceeds £5.00 (the level above
which ECC would not
normally support) Therefore weare proposing to withdraw those 2 services. These
services are also shown in Appendix A.
2. Proposals to get the right type of service to meet your
travel needs by making more use of a wider variety of
ways
for providing services, such as smaller vehicles,demand responsive transport or taxi-buses.
3. Giving local people more control over what when
and where services are run by adopting a policy of
devolution. This would give local communities and
their representatives at district, town and parish level
the opportunity and funding to commission local bus
services in their area, based on their understanding
of local needs.
The full consultation can be viewed here. As in most cases, these statutory consultations often lead to a reduction or complete removal of services. If you feel this will have a detrimental effect on your ability to get around the area please get in touch or leave a comment below.