Proposal for free bus service scrapped

Proposals for a free bus service in Guernsey will no longer be considered for next year's budget, deputies who suggested the move have said.

Deputies Sally Rochester and Ross Le Brun put the plan forward as an amendment to the 2027 budget, asking the Policy and Resources Committee for £1.9m to "enable the existing public transport service" to be made free of charge in a one-year pilot.

They have now pulled the plans after "concern from [operator] Stagecoach" that increased passenger numbers could mean certain routes not coping with the additional demand.

Rochester said she and Le Brun were committed to working with the Environment and Infrastructure Committee to explore plans for the future.

Rochester also acknowledged the pilot would not be possible if buses were "at capacity".

Speaking to BBC Radio Guernsey, she said: "This amendment was all about supporting those in our community that are facing cost of living challenges.

"It was about delivering the transport strategy so you could have access to a free bus service - make their lives easier, make their lives better.

"Now we're not going to be able to do that if the bus service is at capacity."

She said the "logical conclusion is that we would need more buses" while Stagecoach's contract "would need to be expanded" to provide the additional capacity.

Rochester said these elements are "what we'll be looking into and hopefully bringing this back some time in the future".

'High demand'

A spokesperson for Stagecoach said it welcomed "any initiative that encourages more people to use public transport and recognise the potential benefits of making bus travel more accessible".

But it said it was important that "any proposal to introduce free bus travel is carefully considered to ensure that sufficient capacity is available across the network to accommodate the additional passenger demand such a scheme could generate".

The company added: "Our priority is to ensure that bus services remain reliable, accessible and able to meet the needs of all passengers, particularly on routes that already experience high levels of demand."

The proposal was one of 30 changes put forward to next year's budget, scheduled for consideration on Tuesday.

Other amendments put forward include efforts to secure money for States' committees faced with budget cuts, attempts to freeze fuel duty and cuts to overseas aid.

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