Posted: August 2, 2022 at 12:37 p.m
The last buses from Ipswich town center to most of the town’s estates are likely to be cut from the end of September as part of a cost-cutting package by the town council.
The last buses from Tower Ramparts currently run around 11pm Monday to Saturday, but the number using the last buses is relatively small.
These services are subsidized by the city council which pays between £3.11 and £7.62 for each passenger who buys a £1.80 ticket for the service.
The last buses will run from 10pm.
The changes are likely to be introduced from September 25.
Ipswich Council’s executive will make a final decision on the changes at their meeting next week.
Until now it spent £138,000 a year subsidizing services on Sundays and bank holiday evenings, and the last buses of the day throughout the week.
However, if this level of service was to be maintained, the grant would have to rise to £196,000 a year, an increase of 40%.
The council plans to use an extra £30,000 a year from parking charges in Cromwell Square to support bus grants, but this does not cover the full cost of maintaining existing services.
So the last service of the day will be cut on routes 3E, 5E, 8, 9 and 13, but the council said it will try to restore those services if additional funding can be found at a later date.
Phil Smart, portfolio holder for the environment, said: “The council remains committed to bus services in Ipswich, but with the funding required far in excess of the budget, even with the extra money from Cromwell Square, we do not we can afford to fund all the bus service we have.do at present.
“I am pleased that we can continue to support most of the existing services. If additional funds become available or costs are reduced sufficiently in the future, we will reinstate the other services.”
Ipswich Buses services have been cut in the evenings since the lockdowns of the last two years, with services to most parts of the city cut from two and a half to one after 8pm.