Innovative schemes to improve bus services in rural areas have been awarded more than £20 million, transport Minister Sally Keeble announced today.
The awards, made by the Rural Bus Challenge competition 2001, will provide 39 local authorities with funds to launch 58 rural transport schemes across England. The money will help tackle the social isolation of those living in rural areas.
This £20.5 million cash injection adds to the 155 awards funded in the first three Rural Bus Challenge competitions totalling £49million.
In addition to the Rural Bus Challenge scheme, the Government has provided funds for the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant which has seen some 1,800 new or enhanced services provided across England since its introduction in 1998.
Ms Keeble made the awards during a visit to Hertfordshire today to view the Hertfordshire Action on Disability Woodside centre, the county headquarters that includes the operating base for a new rural transport scheme based at Welwyn Garden City.
Hertfordshire gets three new awards this year to enable people to get to health services and provide community transport for villages.
Sally Keeble said:
"From Cornwall to Cumbria these schemes tackle some of the deep-seated transport problems of rural areas.
Decent transport links play an important role in improving people's lives. They help people get to hospitals and shops and get access to jobs and social events."
The winning schemes include:
- Cornwall - £469,000 Integrated Bissoe Valley Services
An integrated package of public transport services for the Bissoe Valley, combining conventional services with innovative solutions. The scheme provides a bus with facilities for bicycles that link the main villages with Truro station and leisure facilities. This route will be integrated with taxi-bus service offering demand responsive links to local facilities. The school contract vehicle is also to be upgraded with seatbelts to make it suitable for extra-curricular activities and for hiring to groups.
- Northamptonshire - £423,380 Kettering area transport demonstration project
A project to introduce demand responsive services in rural Northamptonshire. The service will cater for residents in 22 villages and 3 towns, some without service or only weekly shopping service. Will also utilise highly sophisticated IT systems to maximise demand responsive service.
- East Sussex - £363,000 for Travel Choice in the South Downs
To offer greater travel choice to residents and promote green tourism among visitors. A package of measures including purchase of an accessible bus and minibus and a cycle trailer, improved infrastructure at bus stops, a new Sunday service and cycle carrying service, and introduction of a 'Downlander' multi-modal ticket, supported by a marketing strategy.
- Hertfordshire - £386,700 Rural community transport and accessible vehicles.
Project to provide 12 accessible vehicles capable of carrying one person in a wheelchair plus two other passengers to eight existing community transport schemes. There is a particular focus on access to health facilities, but the project also includes vehicle hire facilities and journeys for a wide range of purposes. The bid is based on a similar scheme in Suffolk.
The scheme includes provision of IT software and project officer over 3 years to extend county-wide the solutions developed under a pilot project in south west Hertfordshire
- South Yorkshire - £1,013,689 Stockbridge and Penistone Rural Link
A package of measures to reinvigorate public transport provision in Stockbridge and Penistone - an area with a population of 33,000.
The package includes introducing a rural bus network with 9 new buses, enhanced information provision; a new weekday bus route to North Sheffield; additional community transport resources,a shopmobility service providing motorised pavament scooters for loan; two new accessible taxibuses; improvements to some existing conventional services and a new Sunday and Bank Holiday leisure service.
