Latest news with #transportFunding
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Drastic' action needed to save Cambridgeshire £1 Tiger bus pass
A mayor who pledged to retain a discounted bus scheme warned it was in danger of being lost unless "something drastic" was Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's (CPCA) Tiger bus pass allows people under 25 to travel for £1 and has been used on more than a million was introduced by former Labour mayor Nik Johnson, with his Conservative successor Paul Bristow promising it would stay in a BBC interview last month.A recommendation on how to continue funding it beyond the end of the year was not agreed by the CPCA board and will be discussed again at a transport meeting on 25 June. Chris Boden, leader of the Conservative-led Fenland District Council, had argued the council should not continue its local bus fare cap beyond December, when it is currently due to end, and instead fund the Tiger the Tiger pass once the national £3 bus fare cap had also ceased in December could mean the CPCA would have to reimburse bus operators to the tune of £473,000 a month, and £6.2m a year, a report to the board stated."If we don't take some quite drastic action, which involves a large amount of money being shifted around in the budget, then the Tiger pass will stop," he argued the Tiger pass must be continued to build up passenger numbers but would otherwise run out of funding in the measure could run until March, he said, when a new budget and proposal would be put forward. "We have an opportunity here with £1.8m in the budget for the fare cap coming on December 31," he said."If that money were utilised towards the continuation of the existing Tiger pass to March 31, that would be a very significant part of the funding needed for that."Speaking in support of the proposal, Bristow said: "We are in danger of losing the Tiger pass if we don't do something drastic."What people want is continuity and security."Lucy Nethsingha, leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Cambridgeshire County Council, said she thought the Tiger pass was a "priority" but would rather everyone had the correct figures before making a Bailey, leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council - led by the Tories - supported the recommendation and said the bus fare cap was the "wrong choice" when the Tiger pass was City Labour councillor Anna Smith, who was deputy mayor when the Tiger pass was introduced, suggested looking beyond the transport budget to find money for the bus Tiger bus pass and bus fare cap are due to be discussed at a transport meeting on 25 June before being brought back to the board in July. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Funding will not build Bristol and Bath tram 'overnight', mayor says
Trams could make a return to Bristol and Bath with the announcement hundreds of millions of pounds of new transport funding. The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is to spend some of a new £750m funding allocation on looking at mass transit - most of which will be spent on improving bus and local rail award was part of £15.6bn transport funding announced by the while newly-elector mayor Helen Godwin welcomed the funding, £200m of which would be spent on developing mass transit, she made it clear it would not buy a new tram system "overnight". The money covers a five-year period from West of England is getting the lowest funding of any city region – partly because its population is smaller than most."That money is not going to buy us a tram network overnight, we've got to be clear about that," Ms Godwin said. "That money can give us a much-improved bus network," she added. "We can also start to move on our suburban rail network." Ms Godwin was elected Metro Mayor on 1 May, bringing to an end the troubled tenure of Dan his four years in charge WECA was put into special measures after a series of public rows with council the disagreements was over the possibility of an underground idea is not now being talked Ms Godwin stresses her wish for good relations with local councils, including North Somerset which is likely to eventually join WECA. She will work with them on one particular priority – improving links to the airport."We have got an airport which is the only one in the country which isn't connected by mass transit of any form," she said. "So it would be remiss for us not to be looking at that."The new money is not enough to fund that but the hope is that it could pave the way.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Oral Questions for 21 May 2025
Questions to Ministers Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? DAN BIDOIS to the Minister of Finance: What is the Government's objective for net core Crown debt? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI to the Minister for Women: Does she stand by her answer to oral question No. 4 on Thursday, 15 May that "The initial conversation I had with the Minister of Finance regarding pay equity occurred on 9 November 2024"; if so, on what date did she first inform the Ministry for Women of potential pay equity changes? Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? RIMA NAKHLE to the Minister of Transport: What announcements has he made regarding rail funding in Budget 2025? Hon BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by her statement in relation to Budget 2025 that "The vast bulk of these initiatives will be funded from savings. As in last year's Budget, existing areas of spending will be redirected towards higher priorities"? JOSEPH MOONEY to the Minister for Tourism and Hospitality: What recent reports has she seen on tourism in New Zealand? TODD STEPHENSON to the Minister for Regulation: What recent announcements has he made on progressing the Regulatory Standards Bill? Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions regarding pay equity and workforce conditions in the education sector? TAKUTAI TARSH KEMP to the Associate Minister of Housing: What role, if any, have the Government's policies and decisions played in contributing to the 53 percent increase in homelessness in Tamaki Makaurau between September 2024 and January 2025, particularly for rangatahi? DAVID MacLEOD to the Minister for Maori Development: What recent announcements has he made about Maori Wardens? CAMILLA BELICH to the Minister for ACC: Does he stand by his statements and actions in relation to the Accident Compensation Corporation? To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
