Home-to-school transport for thousands of children is at risk through inflated diesel costs that are imposing an additional bill on the coach industry in England alone of £3 million per month for that work, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has warned.
Over 600,000 children are taken to and from school by coach each day in the UK. But CPT says that operators may be forced to cut services of all kinds – including home-to-school, sports trips, holidays and scheduled routes – because of unsustainable costs.
38% of coach operators have told CPT that they are likely to hand back home-to-school transport contracts due to rising outgoings that are not being matched by rates paid.
In May, a £100 million support package for the bus industry in England was announced. That includes fuel costs mitigation as well as free travel for children under the age of 16 on participating services in August. But CPT observes that the funding applies only to the bus sector, and not coach.
Anecdotal feedback from a selection of local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales suggests that few, if any, have offered any direct financial support to operator contractors.
https://www.route-one.net/news/home-to-school-transport-at-risk-via-inflated-diesel-costs-dfe-told/