Bus route subsidy costs soar by 90% - Fife councillors look at running own services

The figure was revealed this week as Fife Council studied three contracts which are due for renewal - and Labour councillors are now looking into the possibility of the region running its own municipal bus service..

The routes in mid-Fife all subsidised by the local authority, and it means an extra £880,000 to keep the services running. Stagecoach and other bus contractors run commercial services throughout the Kingdom, but only on routes that are commercially profitable. Some which are not are crucial for connecting communities - and that is where the council steps in.

Contracts are tendered on a rolling programme for a three year period, and Mid Fife area is due for renewal in the coming financial year. A budget report from the minority Labour administration said: “Tenders that have been returned show an increase in costs of nearly 90%. The council is faced with the choice of finding the additional funding to cover these increased costs or seeing bus services cut.”

Labour wants to invest the extra money to keep routes open and operational for the time being.

“Given the limited time available, and there being no alternative approach to sustaining these services in the short term, it is proposed to invest the necessary funding to maintain the current provision of subsidised routes which analysis tells us are still used by numbers of people,” Labour’s budget proposals explained.

However, Councillor David Ross, administration leader, warned the local authority cannot continue to meet increases of this level in years to come.

Instead, it will be undertaking an expansive study to consider whether and how Fife could operate is own municipal bus services, expanding from the current Fife Bus network.

“We’ll be having a real look at what the network actually needs,” Cllr Ross explained. “It’s high time we actually did that instead of just giving money to bus companies.”

Cllr Ross and the Labour group are proposing to fund the bus contract increases with an additional £880,000 this year to keep services running. The issue will be discussed at Thursday’s budget meeting.