Buses facing Covid impact

just before the summer recess said: “At this point it is unclear how the network will recover post-Covid-19 and highly unlikely that the commercial network will be reinstated without change.”

It added: “The travelling habits of passengers are likely to be different after any recovery period with new travelling habits formed and many passengers potentially opting not to use public transport due to health and safety concerns.

“Additionally, any physical distancing requirements set by the government will also have an impact on commercial services, reducing the number of people permitted to be on public transport at any one time.”

Some commercial operators reckon social distancing rules alone could threaten their viability because rules would cut passenger potential by up to a fifth.

The report said: “The public transport unit has been liaising with local operators continuously throughout this period to keep updated with movement in the network and projections for service review and recovery.

“Early discussions with operators have highlighted concern regarding continuing both contracted and commercial services in their current form.”

That could mean the council having to spend more to subsidise routes in parts of the county previously served by commercial operators.

Councillors agreed to extend the review and the public transport unit will report back in the spring of next year.

Meanwhile it is likely that some contracts will change and the council faces having to respond to each contract as the situation develops.