Member

The reason for this state of affairs is that bus routes are currently run on the basis of making a profit, or they are subsidised by the bus service operators grant, which provides a fuel subsidy, or they are funded by the local transport authority. It is the last of these funding sources that is of concern. For example, the West Yorkshire transport committee has criteria for funding services that would not run without it. These criteria relate to the number of bus users, as a way of rationing what funding there is. The result is that routes serving more rural communities, as well as evening and weekend services, continue to miss out.