Monmouthshire County Council in Wales is celebrating the outstanding talent and hard work of its staff this week after hearing they have been shortlisted in the Local Authority Bus Project of the Year category of the prestigious UK Bus Awards for 2015. This follows work by ten local authorities in South East Wales led by Monmouthshire to improve bus quality in the region.
The annual awards, now in their 20th year, recognise and reward the achievements of the bus industry and aim to inspire others with winning approaches. The winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony in London on 24th November.
The South East Wales authorities will compete with four local authorities for Bus Project of the Year. The ‘Improving Bus Quality in South East Wales’ entry follows the Welsh Government’s decision to devolve bus funding to councils. Together with bus operators, the councils designed a system to incentivise bus operators to improve quality standards. Since April 2015 operators achieving higher quality levels are paid a premium.
Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for transport, Councillor Bryan Jones said: “We’re delighted that the work done by the regional team led by Monmouthshire has been recognised by shortlisting for these prestigious awards. This demonstrates that asking local authorities to administer the funding of bus services improves quality.”
More details of the awards can be found on the UK Bus Awards website. www.ukbusawards.org.uk
