Passengers to be told ‘use or lose’ Nottinghamshire bus services in bid to support struggling routes

It comes as part of a wider review of the bus network as the authority plans for Government support to end in spring.

Last month, the authority confirmed a three-year plan will be drawn up to offer long-term certainty for the county’s bus services.

The plan and the wider review are in response to usage numbers currently standing at between 80 and 85 per cent of pre-Covid pandemic levels.

Passenger reductions have caused some operators to face losing money on routes while trying to keep services going.

The council says this is part of a national trend resulting from changing work patterns, more online shopping and a reluctance to use buses caused by the ‘legacy of Covid’.

Providers are also struggling with staff shortages with Trentbarton confirming in August it had 130 vacancies, which caused 1,614 services to be cancelled in two weeks in August.

Stagecoach has also apologised with dozens of services cancelled daily across Mansfield.

Twenty struggling routes have already been provided with financial backing until next April, when Government funding is expected to end.

This will be supported by £3.9 million from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, to improve local services over three years.

And, while the review is ongoing, the authority is drawing up plans for a ‘use it or lose it’ sales campaign to encourage more people back onto the network.

Coun Neil Clarke, council portfolio holder for transport and environment, told the authority’s place select committee: “We need to ensure we sell the services, whether it’s our own services or commercial services.

“We’ve got to push getting people back onto buses because, if they don’t, then they are going to be under threat. If nobody’s on it, it’s hard to justify it.”

Coun Clarke said more details on the review and sales plan will come forward in the coming months, but suggested it could involve the frequency of some services reducing to ensure ones on the schedule are more likely to arrive.

He said: “Across the industry and country, there are issues about shortages of drivers, so perhaps certainty is better to be delivered if there’s a slightly reduced frequency.”