SIX MONTHS of support for bus services in Riseley and Swallowfield has been pledged by Wokingham Borough Council, to restore a suspended route.
Covid has seen more people work from home and, despite companies opening up again with covid-safe measures, commuters have not been returning to the office in their pre-pandemic numbers.
As a result, Reading Buses took the decision to axe its Tiger 7 route in January.
At the time, it cited long-term roadworks between Hartley Wintney and Fleet, as well as passenger numbers, and a lack of drivers.
“For this reason, we have chosen some of the most lightly used routes to make reductions on to enable us to free up our driving colleagues to help keep the rest of the network running reliably,” the company said.
While Three Mile Cross and Spencers Wood residents could catch the Leopard 8/9 routes, it left Riseley and Swallowfield villagers without a service.
At a meeting of Wokingham’s ruling executive, held on Thursday, February 17, council leader John Halsall said that one of the ”early and visible casualties” of the pandemic has been the bus network.
“It appears that passengers are not returning n sufficient quantities to make the current network viable to support, (so) we are having to increase the subsidy,” he said. “We can only do this in the medium term in its current form.”
The funding will come from S106 funds – contributions made by developers who build homes in the borough, and will cover just half-a-year, to allow time to see if passenger numbers can increase again.
Introducing it, Cllr Pauline Jorgensen said: “There has been a slump in bus usage during covid … it is not predicted to recover before 2023 or beyond.
“We’re experiencing very low passenger numbers of some of our buses. The problem we’ve got is there’s no certainty on government funding post April.
“This money is to bridge the gap.”
She warned if passengers don’t use the services when the funding has run out “we’ve got limited room for manoeuvre”.
“It’s a short-term thing, not infinitely extendable,” she continued, adding that it gave the council a breathing space.
Cllr Stuart Munro, who represents Swallowfield, said he knew some people had had to resign from their job as a result of the suspension of the Tiger route, and wanted to know when it could be implemented.
“Once this is approved,” Cllr Jorgensen said.
The Executive voted in favour of the motion.
