Bus Service Operator Grant withdrawal scenario planning

The Bus Recovery Grant is due to be withdrawn in March 2023, leaving Bus Operators and Local Authorities with decisions to make with regard to how to support marginal commercial services in the next financial year. With passenger numbers still not back to pre-pandemic levels, it is anticipated that further cuts to local services will be made by commercial operators, leaving Local Authorities facing a reduction in the number of services, having to subsidise, or commission services to maintain the offer to the public. 

Optibus would like to offer up to 3 English Local Authorities to plan ahead for potential service changes by modelling the impact of service withdrawals, the likely cost of providing alternative services, or ways to optimise the mix of socially necessary services and commercial services in collaboration with operators. Successful applicants will receive support from Optibus’ skilled planners to help develop scenarios based on real-world data, as well as a 3 month evaluation licence of the Optibus Planning module. 

The minimum entry criteria:

• A Local Highway Authority in England with a minimum population of 250,000

• Have up to date TransXChange or BODS data for the services that are under consideration

• Have sufficient resources to support the project (expected to be a minimum of 5 days of officer time between January 2nd 2023 and March 31st 2023). 

• Approval to travel to London for at least one full day of workshops at the Optibus office (in addition to the 5 days of officer time)

• Be willing to sign a Project Agreement committing to the project expectations and resource requirements.

Please fill out the form on the right to be contacted by the Optibus team who will discuss your participation with you in more detail.