Total Transport Pilot Fund winners

Winning bids for the Total Transport Pilot Fund have been announced. It will see £7.6m of DfT funding provided for 37 schemes. The money is intended to allow local authorities in England to try new and better ways of delivering joined up local transport in rural and isolated areas. The Total Transport Pilot Fund competition was launched on 14 January 2015 and 42 bids were received from local authorities in England. The funding will provide the essential first step for local authorities to implement service integration. The project will fund a range of feasibility studies and other groundwork as well as a number of pilot projects to test the real world scope for service integration in individual areas. These pilots will run for a maximum of two years. While they are going, project teams will be encouraged to share what they learn with each other. At the end of the two years, each scheme will submit a detailed report on the results of delivering integration to the DfT.

Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said, ‘Good transport is the lifeblood of local communities and we must ensure every penny spent is being used effectively. This is about improving access to the services people rely on most, from getting to school, to the shops or the local hospital. It is part of our long term economic plan to improve the lives of hard working people up and down the country.’

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said, ‘As someone from a rural area, I know the vital importance of well-functioning public transport in helping people get around their local community, whether to do business, go to school or meet friends and family. That’s why I’m delighted that we’ve been able to provide £7.6m to ensure that people living in rural and isolated communities will be able to benefit from integrated public transport, meaning that local authorities will work with schools, hospitals and other local organisations to deliver local services more efficiently, meaning that they will be able offer people across the country better transport services while saving the taxpayer money.’

Head of Campaigns at Campaign for Better Transport, James MacColl, said, ‘In recent years bus users in particular have been hit hard by cuts in public spending, causing real hardship for many. Total Transport offers part of a solution to this problem, by helping local authorities support all kinds of local transport more efficiently. It is great that so many local authorities have recognised the value of applying for this Fund and put forward good bids, and that the Government have met this enthusiasm by increasing the funds available.’

Total Transport was one of the key recommendations of our recent Buses in Crisis report. Pooling the resources and expertise for local buses with other transport needs like bespoke transport for schools and hospitals should mean buses are better resourced and networks are more joined up. All communities would benefit from such an approach and we hope these pilots are the first stage in Total Transport being rolled out more widely.’
Winners of the funding:

Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority £18,000
Surrey County Council £490,000
Devon County Council £300,000
Nottinghamshire County Council £300,000
Lincolnshire County Council £400,000
Sheffield City Region £170,000
Northumberland County Council £250,000
West Berkshire District Council £196,000
Dorset County Council £180,000
Warwickshire County Council £119,150
North Somerset Council £120,000
North Yorkshire County Council £120,097
Leicestershire County Council £75,000
Worcestershire County Council £85,000
Northamptonshire County Council £750,000
Norfolk County Council £300,000
Somerset County Council £305,000
Cornwall County Council £281,000
Staffordshire County Council £130,000
Cheshire East Borough Council £453,144
Suffolk County Council £190,000
Rutland County Council £100,000
South Gloucestershire Council £150,000
North Lincolnshire District Council £200,000
Cambridgeshire County Council £460,000
East Riding of Yorkshire Council £100,000
Oxfordshire County Council £100,000
Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority £81,000
East Sussex County Council £100,000
Durham County Council £50,000
Gloucestershire County Council £350,000
Herefordshire Council £100,000
Kent County Council £102,000
North East Lincolnshire District Council £297,000
Derbyshire County Council £164,900
Bath and North East Somerset District Council £60,000
Staffordshire County Council funding is for two schemes:
Moorlands Connect Plus £70,000 and Wellbeing Project £60,000