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Bus network review in Flintshire

Published: 10/07/2018

Over the past three months, Flintshire County Council has been consulting on the future provision of subsidised bus services that support and supplement the commercial network. The purpose of the review was how to best to prioritise increasingly limited public funding where there is most need and ensure that local bus service delivery is sustainable, affordable and equitable across the County. The review considered areas of the County not currently served by public transport and how best to support commercial services to ensure their sustainability. Flintshire sought the opinion of members of the public and key stakeholders on the most appropriate transport solution for their local area identifying current travel patterns, where and when transport is required, the purpose of travel and which, of the proposed four options, will deliver a sustainable transport solution into future. To aid this, the County was divided in to four geographical areas to prioritise and focus the transport need for individual communities. Within these areas, four transport options were presented for consideration The consultation feedback has now been collated and assessed and the preferred option is to support bus routes on the core bus network and introduce Local Travel Arrangements in areas off the core network. This option will provide consistency and flexibility within the supported network allowing areas not currently benefiting from public transport to have a service while continuing to provide a level of service to those who have. The purpose of the local travel arrangements is to connect communities to key hubs, such as town centres, and the core bus network for onward journeys, while increasing passenger access to commercial services ensuring their sustainability. The consultation outcome will be presented to Flintshire’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny committee on 12 July for consideration. As well as the outcome to the bus network review, debate will also be had on number of long standing school transport arrangements that do not currently conform to Flintshire Council Council’s Home to School transport policy, along with a review of concessionary school transport bus pass costs.