Bus services in Bedford Borough are run by independent commercial companies, many of which are based locally. Some of these companies are part of larger national operating groups.
Stagecoach in Bedford (for all services except service 50)
Website: www.stagecoachbus.com (current Stagecoach timetables)
Email: bedford.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com (customer services)
Email: bedford.disabilityhelpdesk@stagecoachbus.com (disability helpdesk)
Tel: 01234 220030
Grant Palmer Ltd
Website: www.grantpalmer.com
Tel: 01525 719719
Ivel Sprinter
Website: http://ivelsprinter.org.uk
Tel: 01767 261074
Road Runner
Tel: 07749 545210
UNO
Website: www.unobus.info
Tel: 01707 255764
Wanderbus
Website: www.wanderbus.org.uk
Tel: 0300 1233023
The Villager Minibus
Tel: 01234 781920
Flittabus
Website: https://flittabus.co.uk
Helpline: 07960 388111
The bus service network
Unfortunately, it is not possible for the Borough Council to provide a service for every journey an individual may wish to make. Instead, it aims to provide journeys to meet the needs of as many passengers as possible within the resources available to it.
In the last decade, the commercial bus network in North Bedfordshire has reduced and the number of services paid for by the Local Authority has grown. This means that whereas 80% of services used to be run commercially and 20% run with support from the Local Authority a decade ago, now just over 70% of services are run commercially with nearly 30% supported by the Local Authority.
Expenditure on bus services
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is as to how much money the authority spends on supporting bus services.
The annual expenditure is detailed below:
|
Financial Year |
Total Expenditure |
Total Expenditure exc BSOG** |
|---|---|---|
|
2020/21 |
£1,285,101.44 |
£1,089,553,44 |
|
2019/20 |
£1,336,727.19 |
£1,141,179.19 |
|
2018/19 |
£1,257,392.42 |
£1,061,844.42 |
|
2017/18 |
£1,328,237.39 |
£1,132,689.39 |
|
2016/17 |
£1,553,142.96 |
£1,357,594.96 |
|
2015/16 |
£1,514,938.76 |
£1,319,390.76 |
|
2014/15 |
£1,452,491.91 |
£1,252,093.91 |
Notes on above table:
- ** The Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG, and formerly Fuel Duty Rebate) is a scheme that refunds some of the Fuel Duty incurred by operators of registered local bus services in the United Kingdom.
- BSOG was devolved to local authorities from January 2014. It is added and incorporated as part of the daily contract price and the full annual allocation is provided for bus services.
- Cross boundary charges are excluded (in order to avoid double counting of expenditure with other local authorities)
- The figures shown above include contract payments to bus operators for operating local bus services. The figures do not include concessionary fares or other reimbursements for PlusBus or for tickets purchased for scholars under our school transport policy.
