Save our 159 bus service
In December 2022 the operator of the 159 bus from Coalville to Hinckley walked away from negotiating the renewal of its contract with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) leaving residents concerned how they will get to school, work and the shops.
As a bit of background, a number of years ago bus passenger numbers in Leicestershire started to decline and the commercial operators said they’d cease the rural routes as they weren’t making a profit. LCC stepped in and offered to subsidise the loss to ensure rural residents had the buses as a transport lifeline.
This year for example, LCC subsided the 159 to the cost of £162,792 or to put it another way given the bus averages 234 passengers a day, the council paid Roberts £2.27 for each and every ticket sold. This is on top of what you pay onboard.
The government has tried to help as well. In the same month that Roberts announced they are terminating the 159, the government announced that from January to March next year they will offer bus operators further subsidies to reduce the cost of a ticket to just £2. Arriva, who operate the 153 will be taking part, Roberts and the 159 will not.
And what do we get in return for this taxpayer money? An increasingly infrequent service at unsociable times.
If Roberts offered a more reliable service they’d have greater uptake meaning greater profits and so wouldn’t have to keep on threatening to pull the service every year.
To help them achieve this local Conservatives have launched the ‘Save our 159 Service’ Rural Bus Survey. If we are explicit in exactly what we want from a bus service we may be able to convince the operators to improve the service.
We will be presenting the results to Roberts in the hope they’ll be motivated to come back to the negotiating table with LCC if they can see enthusiasm in increasing uptake of their service.
Have your say by completing the survey!