Anglesey Council has announced plans to withdraw 30 local bus services from its supported network from April 1. This follows a substantial reduction in the Welsh Government’s Local Transport Services (LTSG) provided to all 22 local authorities for 2012/13 to support the operation of public transport (CBW1020).
Operators affected by the changes to their contracts include Arriva Buses Wales, Eifion’s Coaches, Goodsir Coaches, Gwynfor’s Coaches, and Padarn Bus.
Anglesey’s head of highways Dewi Williams said: “This unexpected reduction to the grant, which was used to supplement the council’s own funding, has left us with no option but to reduce the number of bus services we provide.”
However, Mr Williams added: “After withdrawing the 30 journeys we’ll still continue to provide a total of 408 contracted journeys, out of a total number of bus journeys run in Anglesey of 555. To put it in context, we are withdrawing less than 8% of the current network.”
Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant said: “I would urge Anglesey not to make premature decisions on cuts but to engage in these discussions which are aimed at protecting services and, in the longer term, producing a more effective bus financing scheme.”
