Cheshire East wants to know what you think of local bus services and what would encourage you to use them more often.
A consultation launched today (Tuesday, 7th May, is intended to make sure services are continuing to meet the needs of users and to ensure that they provide value for money.
The bus network in Cheshire East consists of 37 services, of which 21 are subsidised by the council.
The last bus service review was carried out in 2017, and people's travel habits have changed since then. The review will inform the council's approach to encouraging more people to use the bus network and – through this service review – the council will be looking to:
- Maximise opportunities in areas of greatest need;
- Ensure services complement, not compete with commercial services;
- Develop stronger partnership working with commercial operators; and
- Identify opportunities to modernise flexible on-demand transport options
Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said: "An incredible amount has changed since we last had a full review of our borough's bus services. With a mix of urban and rural communities, ensuring we have the right offer for our residents is extremely important to us.
"There is no proposal to reduce the council's supported bus budget, but given the financial constraints on the council, it is more important than ever to ensure we maximise the value from our spending on local bus services. To provide an efficient and well-run service, we need to hear what residents have to say."
Councillor Lata Anderson, Cheshire East Council's public transport member champion, said: "We consider it vital that we keep residents living in Cheshire East connected – especially people in rural communities – for getting to work and amenities such as hospitals, but these are certainly not our only considerations.
"With the government committing to a nationwide £2 adult fare cap until at least the end of the year, this is a great time to be encouraging people to get out and use our local transport services."
The proposals in the consultation are likely to impact on rural services in Nantwich, the 391/392 service operating from Macclesfield to Stockport via Poynton and the council's on-demand flexible transport services.
The bus service review consultation will remain open for eight weeks until Wednesday 3 July. Hard copies of the consultation material will also be available in libraries.
