Supported bus services

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Buses are vital to keeping our borough moving, with hundreds of thousands of journeys made by bus in our borough each year.

Buses are owned and operated by private bus companies, and not by the council.

A number of bus services in the borough are well used, and the cost of providing the bus service such as the vehicles, drivers and fuel is earned back by the bus company through the fares people pay to use them.

There are bus routes within the borough, however, which would not be profitable for a bus company to run without additional funding. The council can and does choose to financially support some bus services across the borough, keeping communities connected, lowering congestion and carbon emissions, and offering more people choice over how they travel.

These 'supported bus services' are run under contract to the council by bus companies. Every few years, bus companies are asked to compete for the contracts to run these services, as a way to ensure the council gets best value for the funding it provides. The current contracts come to an end in summer 2024.

The council is now seeking views on the proposed contracts that it will ask bus companies to compete for.

The borough's supported bus services, where current contracts are nearing their end are:

  • 01: Ascot (Heatherwood Hospital) - Windsor
  • 3: Maidenhead town circular, via Highfield Lane
  • 8: Maidenhead town circular, via Boulters Lock
  • 9: Maidenhead town circular, via Cranbrook Drive
  • 15: Eton Wick - Slough
  • 16: Maidenhead - Windsor
  • 234: Maidenhead villages circular, via Waltham St Lawrence
  • 235: Maidenhead - Hare Hatch
  • 238: Maidenhead - Cookham Dean
  • 239: Maidenhead - Henley
  • 305: Staines - Colnbrook
  • P1: Windsor park and ride
  • W1: Windsor town circular, via Dedworth

For context, the bus services that are not directly financially supported by the council, and therefore are expected to continue running as they are: 2, 5, 6, 7 (Woodland Park), 7 (High Wycombe), 8 (Heathrow), 53, 63, 68, 103, 127, 155, 500, 702, 703, A60, Go2Gate, RA1, X94, Windsor Tour Buses.

How has the council developed its proposals?

The council recognises that any changes to bus route can be disruptive to people's everyday routines, and we have looked first and foremost to build on the current network rather than to start from scratch.

However, passenger feedback, usage data and discussions with bus operators have shown that since the borough's supported bus services were last reviewed, there have been some important changes that we will need to make some changes to reflect:

  • Inflation. The cost of wages and fuel has risen considerably, making bus services much more expensive to provide. The council will work hard to achieve best value as always, but we expect that we will be able to secure fewer bus services overall this time for our available budget.
  • Changes to other bus services. In recent years, some parts of the borough have seen new and enhanced services introduced by bus companies without council financial support. In other areas, some services have been withdrawn. We will look to rebalance our funding support away from areas with commercially successful bus services, and towards areas that are without.
  • Changes to travel patterns. Following the pandemic period, fare paying passengers have returned to using the bus, but people with concessionary passes are using the bus far less than before the pandemic. This has made some services busier and others quieter.

What is proposed?

The council is proposing to seek contracts for the following packages of route or routes:

  • Package A: Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury and Staines
  • Package B: Eton Wick, Eton and Slough
  • Package C: Maidenhead town services
  • Package D: Maidenhead, Hurley, Bisham and the Walthams
  • Package E: Windsor, Clewer Green, Dedworth, Bray and Maidenhead
  • Package F: Ascot, Sunninghill, Sunningdale and Windsor

Information sheets are available to download from this page for each of the proposed packages, with full details of the key calling points it is proposed that the bus would serve. Note that on some mobile devices, these information sheets may appear at the very bottom of this webpage.

Have your say

The council now wants to hear from residents and businesses.

For each of these packages, are there any additional destinations that are not shown in the information sheet that you believe the bus routes(s) should connect to?

We want to hear your views. Complete one or more of the surveys on this page to have your say - there is one survey for each package.

These surveys are open until 4 December 2023.

All comments will be reviewed although individual responses will not be provided.

If you need support completing the survey, internet access or a paper copy of the survey, visit any borough library where staff will be glad to assist you.

You can also respond to this consultation or request information in an accessible format by writing to: Transport Policy Manager, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF

Buses are vital to keeping our borough moving, with hundreds of thousands of journeys made by bus in our borough each year.

Buses are owned and operated by private bus companies, and not by the council.

A number of bus services in the borough are well used, and the cost of providing the bus service such as the vehicles, drivers and fuel is earned back by the bus company through the fares people pay to use them.

There are bus routes within the borough, however, which would not be profitable for a bus company to run without additional funding. The council can and does choose to financially support some bus services across the borough, keeping communities connected, lowering congestion and carbon emissions, and offering more people choice over how they travel.

These 'supported bus services' are run under contract to the council by bus companies. Every few years, bus companies are asked to compete for the contracts to run these services, as a way to ensure the council gets best value for the funding it provides. The current contracts come to an end in summer 2024.

The council is now seeking views on the proposed contracts that it will ask bus companies to compete for.

The borough's supported bus services, where current contracts are nearing their end are:

  • 01: Ascot (Heatherwood Hospital) - Windsor
  • 3: Maidenhead town circular, via Highfield Lane
  • 8: Maidenhead town circular, via Boulters Lock
  • 9: Maidenhead town circular, via Cranbrook Drive
  • 15: Eton Wick - Slough
  • 16: Maidenhead - Windsor
  • 234: Maidenhead villages circular, via Waltham St Lawrence
  • 235: Maidenhead - Hare Hatch
  • 238: Maidenhead - Cookham Dean
  • 239: Maidenhead - Henley
  • 305: Staines - Colnbrook
  • P1: Windsor park and ride
  • W1: Windsor town circular, via Dedworth

For context, the bus services that are not directly financially supported by the council, and therefore are expected to continue running as they are: 2, 5, 6, 7 (Woodland Park), 7 (High Wycombe), 8 (Heathrow), 53, 63, 68, 103, 127, 155, 500, 702, 703, A60, Go2Gate, RA1, X94, Windsor Tour Buses.

How has the council developed its proposals?

The council recognises that any changes to bus route can be disruptive to people's everyday routines, and we have looked first and foremost to build on the current network rather than to start from scratch.

However, passenger feedback, usage data and discussions with bus operators have shown that since the borough's supported bus services were last reviewed, there have been some important changes that we will need to make some changes to reflect:

  • Inflation. The cost of wages and fuel has risen considerably, making bus services much more expensive to provide. The council will work hard to achieve best value as always, but we expect that we will be able to secure fewer bus services overall this time for our available budget.
  • Changes to other bus services. In recent years, some parts of the borough have seen new and enhanced services introduced by bus companies without council financial support. In other areas, some services have been withdrawn. We will look to rebalance our funding support away from areas with commercially successful bus services, and towards areas that are without.
  • Changes to travel patterns. Following the pandemic period, fare paying passengers have returned to using the bus, but people with concessionary passes are using the bus far less than before the pandemic. This has made some services busier and others quieter.

What is proposed?

The council is proposing to seek contracts for the following packages of route or routes:

  • Package A: Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury and Staines
  • Package B: Eton Wick, Eton and Slough
  • Package C: Maidenhead town services
  • Package D: Maidenhead, Hurley, Bisham and the Walthams
  • Package E: Windsor, Clewer Green, Dedworth, Bray and Maidenhead
  • Package F: Ascot, Sunninghill, Sunningdale and Windsor

Information sheets are available to download from this page for each of the proposed packages, with full details of the key calling points it is proposed that the bus would serve. Note that on some mobile devices, these information sheets may appear at the very bottom of this webpage.

Have your say

The council now wants to hear from residents and businesses.

For each of these packages, are there any additional destinations that are not shown in the information sheet that you believe the bus routes(s) should connect to?

We want to hear your views. Complete one or more of the surveys on this page to have your say - there is one survey for each package.

These surveys are open until 4 December 2023.

All comments will be reviewed although individual responses will not be provided.

If you need support completing the survey, internet access or a paper copy of the survey, visit any borough library where staff will be glad to assist you.

You can also respond to this consultation or request information in an accessible format by writing to: Transport Policy Manager, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF

Page published: 08 Nov 2023, 03:32 PM