Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre & Employment

To note the report and approve the redesign proposals and authorises a tender process.

That Cabinet noted the report, approved the redesign proposals and authorised a tender process.

Councillor Hill began by thanking the officers, including Tim Golabek, Service Lead for Transport, for the hard work that had gone into producing the report that was before Cabinet. He began by asking for patience as it had not yet been decided on bus routes, and until contractors worked out their numbers, this would not be known. The key takeaways from the report were that more funding was being put into buses from an amount of £870,000 to £1.14m. 22 routes existed within the borough, 9 of which were commercial and 13 were subsidised by the borough. On some of the routes, up to 60% of the cost was subsidised by the borough. The pre-covid usage of buses was 9.3 trips per resident, per year. This now sat at 4.8, showing a dramatic decline in usage.

Councillor Price said that the Eqia of the report showed that the elderly and persons on a lower income would be the most impacted by this. In terms of the consultation that would occur in October 2023, they would be particularly hard to reach out too via social media for example. She pleaded for these people to please be contacted through various means.

Councillor Price said that some of the bus routes within the borough were currently being subsidised by central government, to allow residents to travel on buses for as little as £2. This would get residents back into the habit of taking buses, so promoting this should be explored further. Councillor Hill thanked Councillor Price for her comments and said that he and officers would take it on board. He wished to in the future put money into upgrading bus stops, along with other infrastructure projects, however understood that this would require revenue investment.

Councillor Bermange said that developer contributions could be used for things such as the upgrading of bus stops and that through investment, a better uptake would be clearly seen. Councillor Hill thanked him for his comments, and said that if any s106 money was allocated, he would be happy to use it.

Councillor Sharpe asked as a non-cabinet member about the plans for buses and transport for residents in the south of the borough such as Ascot, Sunninghill and Sunningdale. He stated that it would take over 2 hours to get a bus from Ascot to Maidenhead currently. Alternatives would mean that a train connection was needed at Reading station to be able to get to Maidenhead. Councillor Werner thanked him for his comments and agreed in large parts with what he had said. He referred to the previous administration’s lack of funding towards the south of the borough and in particular its bus routes. Councillor Hill concurred with this.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report, approved the redesign proposals and authorised a tender process.