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We’ll soon see more buses running in our area, thanks to funding from the Labour-led Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
Our directly elected mayor, Nik Johnson, is a firm believer in public transport that meets the needs of the public. As part of the funding from the ‘mayoral precept’ - currently £3 a month for a band D property - we will now see improved services including:
More buses on the Ely Zipper 1 (covering Witcham Haddenham, Wilburton, Stretham and Little Thetford) so that it runs at the same time every hour on weekdays.
A brand new Ely Zipper 3 service that connects through to Chatteris, Mepal, Sutton, Witcham and Witchford.
Extending the Ely Zipper 2 service to March.
The Ely Zipper 3 will also offer connections through to Ramsey and Huntingdon as the same bus becomes the 303 service - meaning you don’t have to change bus or buy a new ticket.
More details of the routes and the full timetables are available on the Dews Coaches website.
£1 fares for the under-25s.
In addition to new bus services, Labour’s Nik Johnson has fulfilled his manifesto pledge for £1 fares for the under-25s. With a free Tiger Pass, younger people can now travel for just £1 per journey. So far around 25,000 people have applied. You can get yours too here.
Run public transport for the public good
The big issue with buses is that private operators can pick and choose which services to run based on how much profit they make. Local Government can step in and provide a subsidy only if the private operators decide not to run a particular service.
This could change if we adopt a model of ‘bus franchising’. That means that deregulation of buses in our area is scrapped and instead the Combined Authority would be able to run a network that’s based on local needs. It would be a service with a single brand, integrated timetables and ticketing and accountability for service standards.
To achieve this requires public support so please have your say on the Bus Franchising Consultation. Survey closes on 20 November.
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