The government has today, 27 March 2015, announced the winning bids for the Total Transport Pilot Fund that will allow local authorities in England to try new and better ways of delivering joined-up local transport in rural and isolated areas.

Around £2 billion is currently provided each year by a number of agencies for local transport funding. However, this is often not co-ordinated or integrated at a local level, resulting in duplication and potential waste of public money. Today’s announcement will see £7.6 million Department for Transport funding dedicated to 37 schemes, providing stable funding from one source to improve transport services in local areas.

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 £7.6 million 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.

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. The pilots will run for a maximum of 2 years. While they are running project teams will be encouraged to share what they learn with each other, and at the end of the 2 years each scheme will submit a detailed report on the results of delivering integration to the Department for Transport.

The winning bids are:

Authority Funding Awarded (£) 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

Funding Staffordshire County Council is for 2 schemes: Moorlands Connect Plus (£70,000) and Wellbeing Project (£60,000).