Taxi Driver Online

Whilst not about taxis it might be a clue to whats coming for taxi contracts

https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/rutland/news/council-ends-bus-subsidy-costing-3-000-per-pupil-9420268/

Funding for a bus service that costs more than £3,000 per passenger is being cut by a council.

The R4 between Uppingham and Peterborough is a public service operated by Central Connect, which carries about a dozen children to and from The King’s School in Peterborough.

The council subsidy is £40,000 a year, or more than £3,000 per passenger.

Rutland County Council has no legal duty to fund the service, since attendance at The King’s School is based on parental choice and the pupils are not entitled to free home to school transport.

Coun Christine Wise (Lib Dem - Uppingham), cabinet member for transport at Rutland County Council, said: “All bus services across the county have been reviewed to make sure they’re affordable.

“We have a long-term plan to make bus travel more accessible and sustainable. To achieve this, we have had to take the difficult decision to withdraw funding for some services that are no longer viable.

“A financial commitment of £40,000 each year for a single return journey five days a week is just not sustainable, given the pressure on our budget. Our resources are finite and we need to invest this money in ways that allow more people to access public transport across the whole of Rutland.”

A proposal to consult on the future of the R4 was included in the council’s Transport Network Review, approved by cabinet in November 2024.

Following a consultation, which gave parents and The King’s School an opportunity to comment on proposals to withdraw funding for the R4, Rutland County Council notified Central Connect on Wednesday (June 4) of its decision, advising that funding will be withdrawn at the end of the current academic year.

The R4 leaves Uppingham at 7.15am and stops at Glaston, Morcott, South Luffenham, Duddington, Wansford, Ailsworth, Castor, Longthorpe, Peterborough Bus Station and arrives at The King's School at 8.20am. It starts the return journey at 3.30pm.

There is a direct rail service between Oakham and Peterborough.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Not good, but the country hasn't got any money, so we are being told.

Unless, of course, you want a bus or bike lane; then the country has got millions.

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IDFIMH

Dunno about the Bus Operators who do School Transport but after almost 2 years into my School run Contract and soon to be in to a third contract year I still get the same amount paid to me as I did when i first bid for the run, not so many years ago the Local Council would have given you an inflation matching top up year on year and now they dont, which in real terms means that in the fourth year of my contract i'll be doing the run for around 4/5ths of its true value, rather makes you wonder if it's worth it.

It's not just fuel that goes up with inflation it's everything you buy, yet the council are quite happy to raise my Taxi Driver Badge cost, Vehicle Licence and Community Charge at a faster than inflation amount each year.........Whats good for the Goose is not good for the Gander in their eyes.

Do Any of you guys get an inflation matching rise for your school contract work?

I don't really get involved in school contract work, as it's never been my forte, but I'm quite sure the contracts are either index-linked or allow for a review partway through the contract.

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IDFIMH

Staffordshire gives an annual rise of about 1% every April IF............the same contractor has held/done the route for 12 months, at the same time they have virtually stopped awarding contracts for over 12 months
Mostly, bases win routes, thier owner drivers never see any rise

My last job was 4 years old when i jacked in, my weekly fuel bill had risen from £60/week to £95

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

see my post

basically, yes....but

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

The bus costs quoted above work out to a fare of about £18.50 a day per passenger. How much would the same journey cost by taxi? The cost of the bus is about £222 a day, well below what I would expect to get for a school bus run these days. The cost spread over 365 days a year is £109 for the bus, so the cost per passenger could be down the £9 a day. But it depends how the bus operator works out his costings. Bus drivers wages are around £17/hour these days, a lot get a minimum of 4 hours pay for an am and pm school run, and more than that in the south east. Add on the additional NI hikes, holiday pay, trainig, route learning PSVAR compliance with wheelchair accessibility in all service buses, along with information screens and automatic announcements in all service buses as well as nationwide tracking. And the driver's CPC training every five years. Running buses ain't cheap any more.

for 5 years i had a 6 day a week school run to a private SEN school, half the kids were parent funded, half were statemented, meaning free transport, school fees 10 years ago were £15,000

it wasnt hard to tell which kids were which in the car park

Side A - Range Rovers, Porsche, Bentley, Merc, BMW, Ferrari (nothing over 3 years old)

Side B, Skodas, Toyota, Mondeo, Pug 308 (nothing under 400k mileage)

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most