The Kidsgrove town bus service – D&G buses route 80 – is set to lose its subsidy as part of Staffordshire County Council’s funding cuts which means it could be axed unless operators choose to run as a commercial service.
Staffordshire County Council is slashing its bus subsidy budget by £1.4 million, meaning support will be withdrawn from dozens of services. More than half-a-million bus journeys a year will be affected by council funding cuts.
A spokesman for D&G said: “We are aware of Staffordshire County Council’s plans to withdraw some services and we know that this will have an impact on some communities who may be left with a reduced bus service, or in some cases no bus service at all. Most of the services planned for withdrawal do not carry enough passengers for us to continue running them without the subsidy.”
Mark Deaville, cabinet member said: “While the vast majority of bus journeys in Staffordshire are made without any subsidy from the county council, some journeys are still costing taxpayers more than £10 every time someone gets on board. When we need to spend a record £300m on care this year, it is only right that we continue to look closely at how public money is used for bus journeys.”
The changes will come into effect from April 2018.
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