The long-feared announcement of bus cuts will be made tomorrow (Friday 26 August 2022). Metro Mayor Dan Norris says "We've thrown the kitchen sink at it, but ultimately we need more bus drivers".

Sources say that the following eleven commercial bus services will be cut:

5: Downend - Bristol

22: University of Bath - Twerton

41: Lawrence Hill - Bristol

42: Odd Down P&R - RUH

72, 72A: Temple Meads - UWE Frenchay

171, 172: Paulton - Bath

X2: Bristol - Yatton

X5 (in part): Bristol - Weston via Portishead

Y3: Yate - Bristol

Y4: Yate - Bristol

Y5: Chipping Sodbury - Bristol

There will be a new bus service 47 covering the Yate, Bristol and Downend areas, and a new 379 around the Paulton, Bath, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Bristol areas.

The majority of bus services in the West of England are run commercially, with the remainder fully or partly subsidised by the West of England Combined Authority, led by Dan Norris.

Even though the Combined Authority offered to pay for all of the 87 'supported' bus services in the region, operators decided they couldn't run seven of them past 8 October. This is due to a driver shortage - both regionally and nationally.

The "supported" bus services ending/ changing come October are:

11: Bathampton - Bath

12: Haycombe Cemetery - Bath

20: University of Bath - Twerton

36: Extension of Bristol - St Annes service to Brislington with loss of service along Wick Road.

82: Paulton - Radstock (Tyning)

96: Hengrove - Brislington

178: Radstock - Bristol

Dan Norris said: " I have been concerned throughout 2022 that there would be cuts this October. Sadly, these fears are now being realised and these cuts will be disheartening and worrying for local people.

"The problem of too few drivers to staff our region's vital bus services has gone off the Richter Scale. We are also living in unprecedented times with annual inflation in the bus industry letting rip at over 40 per cent. These two major challenges have come together to create the perfect storm to see commercial bus providers up-and-down the land cutting back on the services they provide.

"Even where financial support has been made available by the West of England Combined Authority or the Government to keep local buses going, operators are still unwilling to run these services as they simply don't have the drivers to operate them. 

"This is far more about bus driver shortages than cash, even though the sky-high inflation is a massive and difficult challenge. These cuts will cause real difficulty for many local people and communities right across our region.

"While the news in the short term is difficult, I hope to have better news on fares soon and later in April when the next timetable changes take place, and funding from the Bus Service Improvement Plan kicks in. Here the West of England, we have been very successful securing the second highest amount nationwide from this government fund.

"The West of England Combined Authority is looking to use more cost-effective minibuses in future over more traditional buses where this is appropriate. This also has the advantage that minibus drivers can be trained more quickly to fill the critical shortfall. We are already working with the bus companies to identify new drivers, and to then recruit and train them. However, building up a resource of new drivers takes time, and this is really something that should be co-ordinated by national government to ensure our region, and others don't poach newly qualified staff from one another which is currently the risk of any local initiative".

In the West of England Combined Authority area, there are set to be 11 commercial cuts plus seven supported bus cuts. Support will also end for 4 services that were partially subsidised (eg to run the service later or to run on a Sunday) but form part of the 11 commercial cuts