March bus service costing £100 per passenger is to be axed

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority board agreed at a meeting this week to stop subsidising the 8A service between March and Milton Park and Ride, and the 15 service between Haslingfield, Bassingbourn, and Royston.

Papers published by the authority blamed low passenger numbers and the cost of running the services as the reason behind the proposal to end the services.

The 8A bus service currently offers one journey a day in each direction between March and Milton Park and Ride.

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The Combined Authority report said the current contract price for the service is £188,753.02, with each passenger journey costing £100.33.

The service route was previously changed to extend it to Milton Park and Ride following an earlier review to improve passenger numbers.

However, the report said there had been a “limited change” in passenger numbers since the alteration was made.

The 15 bus service currently operates once a week on a Wednesday between Haslingfield, Bassingbourn, and Royston.

The report said the service contract price is £48,297, working at a cost per passenger of £180.32 in 2024/25.

Neither service will end immediately, as a 112-day contractual notice will be given to the appropriate traffic commissioner.

Officers told the Board that the loss of the 15 service in particular was proposed to be mitigated through the expansion of the Tiger on Demand service in South Cambridgeshire.

They said an agreement had been reached with South Cambridgeshire District Council to use money provided by developers in the area to fund the expansion of this service.

Councillor Anna Bailey (Conservative), leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said discussing bus services was an “emotive subject”, but said there is not enough money to support every bus service across the area.

She said they had to “make tough choices” as there is not an “endless pot of money”.

Councillor Lucy Nethsingha (Liberal Democrat), leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said this was a “controversial” decision, but that she would be supporting it.

Cllr Nethsingha said they had to review the bus services the Combined Authority subsidised and stop funding them where they are not being used by people.

However, she said it was important that they made sure people had bus services that took them where they wanted to go.

She added that they needed to be open to putting new services in if others are taken away.

Councillor Anna Smith (Labour), representative from Cambridge City Council, said they needed to make sure people in rural communities did not become “trapped” when losing a bus service.

She said: “Rural buses are rarely going to wash their own faces and will need a subsidy.

“We are concerned that the delays to franchising are stopping that subsidy that can really help some of these routes.”

A majority of the Board agreed to end the two bus services.

The Combined Authority Board also agreed to continue supporting a number of other bus services across the county.

These included the 68 Wisbech Town Service; 8 between Cambridge and Papworth Everard; the 46A between Newmarket and Linton; the 5A between St Ives and Bar Hill; the 27 between Stamford and Peterborough; the 61 between Eynesbury and Eaton Ford; and the V4 between St Ives Bus Station and Boxworth.