TfL budgets for bus cuts in revised plan

Filed 22/10/09  

Transport for London is to reduce bus subsidies for the next nine years by more than a third compared to figures published last year.

TfL's latest business plan, which runs from now until 2018, was published this week and envisages net bus subsidy falling from £574m for the 2009/10 financial year to £452m in 2017/18, totalling £4.6bn during the spending period.

In contrast, the previous business plan puts net bus subsidy for 2009/10 at £618m, rising to £721m in 2017/18, amounting to £6.3bn during the nine years.

The cut in subsidy will force TfL to curtail plans for further expansion of the bus network and will result in service reductions on some routes. The new business plan says bus kilometres will fall from 486m in 2009/10 to 478m in 2017/18 whereas the previous business plan forecast a rise from 488m in 2009/10 to 504m in 2017/18.

Rapid expansion of London's bus network during the past decade with new routes and higher service frequencies has resulted in passenger numbers soaring. However this has come at a price - subsidy has risen from £24m in 2000 to £602m for the current financial year. With TfL facing a funding shortfall of £700m, bus subsidies have become the latest target of a comprehensive cost cutting programme.

Val Shawcross, Labour's transport lead on the London Assembly, said: "A £150m cut to bus service subsidy means London's buses will be running twenty six million fewer kilometres per year while bus passengers can expect to pay over and above inflation increases for their tickets every year."

Appearing in front of the London Assembly's Transport Committee on Tuesday (20 October), TfL transport commissioner Peter Hendy said most passengers were unlikely to notice a reduction in bus frequencies and any cuts should be seen in the context of the rapid expansion of the network in recent years.

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