Councillors are gearing up to consider a round of budget reductions that could see bus services cut and transport costs increase for the elderly and disabled.
In line to be cut are subsidised bus services that the council pays out £342,000 a year for because they are not commercially viable but are seen as necessary.
The services likely to be hit are in the evening and weekends. Council leader Hazel Simmons said it was regrettable that the authority was looking at cutting services just before the introduction of the Luton Dunstable Guided Busway.
There was a mixed reaction to an initial ‘community debate’ on cutting subsidised services, with some saying many buses often ran empty anyway, but others voicing concerns that shift workers and others who relied on subsidised services would be hit.
The council acknowledges that essential journeys to hospitals or GP surgeries, for patients and staff, will become more expensive should evening and weekend services be cut, and says it will encourage bus operators to operate at these times on a commercial basis.
Also likely to bite the dust, saving £240,000 a year, is free bus travel for the over 60s before 9.30am. Many local authorities already only allow use of the free bus passes off-peak, but in Luton the passes can be used at all times.
Councillor Simmons said: “Some people have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, thinking we were withdrawing the bus passes, but that’s not the case.”
And Dial-a-Ride and Shopmobility users are likely to have to start paying towards the cost of their journeys, which the council currently pays £60,000 a year for.
“In Luton Dial-a-Ride is completely free and it’s got to a situation where that’s unsustainable,” said Councillor Dave Taylor, responsible for transport.
“Users have been telling us they are willing to make a contribution.”