As the council introduces a supported network with a uniform brand, CHRISTOPHER CARTER explains the events that led to this change and the diverging roles now being played by the two dominant major operator groups running south of the Tamar
Cornwall is taking a different approach to buses, bucking the national trend by increasing funding for local services and launching an enhanced supported network with a uniform Transport for Cornwall red livery.
Network was in ‘an inescapable cycle of decline’
It has challenging bus territory with a dispersed population in one of the UK’s poorest regions. Campaign for Better Transport research reveals that of 88 local transport authorities in England outside London, it is one of only six to increase funding in real terms over the past decade.
Cornwall’s increase from 2009/10 to 2018/19 was 18% (adjusted for inflation) with it ranking in the top four, beaten only by Central Bedfordshire, Leicestershire and Nottingham. Conversely its five nearest neighbours all cut funding: Plymouth by 16%, Devon by 42%, Somerset by 57%, Dorset by 63% and Torbay by 100%, the latter despite hilly terrain and an elderly population.
Spending levels (excluding school transport) in 2018/19 …
