MAJOR concerns have been raised about cuts to the number of bus services across the county in the new year.

Yesterday, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford Bus Company, and Stagecoach announced several bus services across the county would stop running from January 2, 2022.

The cuts are blamed on lower passenger numbers than usual, a reduction in government funding, and a national shortage of driving staff.

Yet the plans have been met with backlash from several politicians in Oxford.

Labour MP Anneliese Dodds, who represents Oxford East, has written a letter to Liz Leffman, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, as well as Phil Southall, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, and Rachel Geliamassi,

Managing Director of Stagecoach West to express her concerns.

In the letter, the MP said: “I am very concerned to hear of major cuts being made to the bus services that many of my constituents rely on.

“These include, for example, reducing services from Risinghurst into the city to only one service an hour, removing services through Florence Park, reducing those from Littlemore, and removing services that cross Donnington Bridge.

"It appears that some other services are being retained or even enhanced, such as the Wolvercote service which will be increased.

“As you are aware, many of my constituents are highly reliant on bus services and they are critical to reducing pollution and reducing our carbon emissions.

"They are also essential in the context of the County Council's plans for the extension of Low Traffic Neighbourhood.”

The county council is currently implementing trials of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Church Cowley, Florence Park, and Temple Cowley to help reduce traffic and car emissions in the city – the scheme looks to encourage people to use active travel, such as cycling, or public transport instead of using their cars.

Councillor Linda Smith, who represents the Lye Valley Ward, echoed the concerns about how the cuts to services would affect the LTN plans.

She said: “This a step backwards for the local efforts to reduce private car journeys.

"It's hard to see how current initiatives like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods can be made to work for local people without quality public transport being available as an alternative to the car.

“The new partnership forged by the county council with the local bus companies is bidding for government funds to invest in the bus network which offers hope for the future, but these cuts to services are a big step backwards for sustainable transport in our city which will cause inconvenience for many residents who are seeing the frequency of their buses cut."

Ms Dodds also questioned how the council and the bus companies decided where to cut bus services.

She said: “I would also be very grateful if the reasons for cutting services in the Oxford East part of the city, while apparently extending those to areas of the county, could be explained (not least given the differing population densities and extent of deprivation).”

The Labour MP added that she had spoken to the leader of the council a few weeks ago that ‘more effort was needed’ to bring additional employees to work for the bus services, and that the council should be encouraging their employees to use the bus services.

Oxford East Conservatives have also criticised the plans, with Deputy Chairman and Littlemore resident, Daniel Stafford, stating that ‘the county council has failed to deliver on their promises to improve connections between Littlemore and the rest of Oxford’.

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “Oxford’s bus network remains in a strong position, with all the key radial corridors into Oxford still served by a very high frequency of service including commercial evening and Sunday services which are not present in some other towns and cities of comparable size.

"While the council is committed to the provision of the best public transport services possible, it has to be recognised that there are significant challenges faced by the bus industry at the moment and the review has had to balance these carefully.

“The review was led by the county council but all bar one of the services in Oxford contained within it are run on a commercial basis with no financial support.

“Therefore the role of the council has been primarily as an intermediary to facilitate the discussions with bus operators on the changes required to each of their networks.”

The council recently submitted a Bus Service Improvement Plan to the Government as part of the National Bus Strategy process, and is waiting to find out what funding it receives.

Oxford Bus Company, Stagecoach, and the Department of Transport have been contacted for a statement.