18 hours ago
Change to service could help slash 'astronomical' transport bills for West Midlands councils
Calls have been made for a lifeline service to be used to help West Midlands councils reduce "astronomical" transport bills they face every year.
Members of the West Midlands Combined Authority's Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed proposals for transforming the region's Ring & Ride service.
This includes moving to a new operating model and increasing fares for the first time since April 2017.
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But committee member Councillor Robert Alden said one way of providing a more comprehensive Ring and Ride service would be for it to pick up some Home to School Transport trips.
As well as boosting the service, he said it would also ease the financial burden faced by local authorities across the West Midlands.
Demand for Ring and Ride services is growing steadily with figures showing 2,487 unique customers have taken a trip in the last six months.
Bosses said the last week of March was the busiest since the start of 2020 when the service was hit by Covid-19.
The authority still provides a subsidy of £6.467 million per year to run the service but this is a far cry from 2010/11 when its budget was around £12 million.
A report to the committee said fare income brings in around £250,000 per year and this is reinvested into the service.
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Councillor Alden said: "All of our councils have huge Home to School Transport bills that place significant financial pressures and cost astronomical amounts.
"There must be a way to operate this service that also picks up some of that Home To School Transport services across the region so there can be cross subsidisation.
"Councils can make a saving on their budget and can also help underpin the finances of Ring and Ride and allow for a more comprehensive service across the region that helps everyone."
Catherine Moore, Ring & Ride and Demand Responsive Transport Manager, said: "We have explored this.
"We will continue to explore it but the problem is the times don't always work when the Ring and Ride wish to travel and the Home to School Transport children.
"We have explored these conversations and we actually feel there might be some benefit from the Community Transport side we could perhaps further develop over the next few years."
