Petition to improve bus and community transport services for Knightwood and Valley Park residents

Thank you and your colleagues for taking the time to come and speak to us all at the meeting of Full Council.

I appreciate your proactive approach in advocating for transport improvements in your local area and your dedication in co-ordinating the petition calling for workable solutions.

As I believe Officers have previously shared, the funding for the 46 Service was identified as a potential saving, because it does not provide transport for children who the County Council has a legal duty to transport to school.

Due to ongoing significant budgetary pressures, the County Council have had to look at doing things differently in order to achieve savings. A decision was made to prioritise public transport which is directly linked to the statutory provision of school transport. Sadly, this has led to the funding for other supported local bus services being withdrawn.

Officers have discussed the 46 Service with commercial bus providers to seek an alternative outcome. Regrettably, we are told that there is insufficient patronage to justify serving this area, without causing implications to their existing, well established commercial routes and as such they have no plans at the current time to run a fully commercial service for this route. If external funding can be identified for the proposals you put forward as part of your deputation to the County Council, we would be able to assist exploring these further with you, but I must stress that there is no available funding from the County Council that can support the continuation of the 46 Service.

While I am sympathetic to all the reasons stated in your petition for public transport in the Knightwood and Valley Park area, the County Council’s current position remains

unchanged from that of previous correspondence that has been shared with you. I wish you every success in seeking alternative funding sources, and I hope that upon that success, we can speak again about future opportunities for a bus service for your community.

Yours sincerely

Lulu Bowerman
Executive Member for Highways and Passenger Transport