Funding

The only scheduled bus service serving the East Brent area is the 48 between Burnham-on-Sea and Cheddar provided by Somerset Council and operated by our in-house fleet within Transporting Somerset. The funding for this service has been provided directly to us by the Department for Transport (DfT) and at present there is sufficient funding to allow the service to continue for now and there are no plans currently to change or withdraw the 48.

This service requires funding because unfortunately it is not commercially viable. Under the 1985 Transport Act, bus operators determine the viability of services and can only provide routes that are commercially viable and it is for Local Authorities to provide funding for services to operate in areas where there is no commercial service and to set service levels that reflect use. It is therefore very unlikely that local operators will provide a bus service in the area unless it is subsidised and as I am sure you will appreciate, we only have limited funds available to provide bus services across the whole County.