LABOUR city council chiefs have called on the council to dig deep and secure funding for Worcester’s buses ‘to establish the regular, reliable services that the city needs’.
The motion, which will be proposed by Cathedral Coun Lynn Denham at the meeting on Tuesday (February 18), calls for managing director David Blake to ‘actively and urgently explore any means within our powers to reverse the drastic decline in passenger transport provision in the city, including seeking funding opportunities to establish the regular, reliable services that the city needs.’
The motion comes after cuts to a number of services, including the axing of the Sunday service to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Coun Denham said: “The Tory county council has cut bus subsidies in Worcestershire from £5.6million to £1.8million over the last five years.
“The most frequent bus users are young people, women and those with long term health conditions. Better public transport has been proven to reduce loneliness and isolation, reduce traffic jams, improve air pollution and help with climate change.
“At present, the bus services in Worcester simply do not meet the needs of residents. In light of the continuing lack of action from the County Council, I am pleased to be proposing this motion to ask the City Council to use its powers to take urgent action to secure a better bus service for Worcester people,” she added.
The campaigner and former General Election candidate echoed her party’s stance on public transport and said she hoped city councillors would support the motion so ‘real action’ could be taken on the issue.
