The Rural Social Enterprise Programme (RSEP)  three-year scheme has been organised by the Plunkett Foundation and the Community Transport Association (CTA), following research into the viability of rural transport schemes.

The research highlighted that public or voluntary sector support is needed, and the public sector should encourage a social enterprise approach to rural community transport.

Grants, loans, training and development will help eight transport organisations develop into sustainable social enterprises. The scheme is open for applications until 4 January 2010

The decline in rural bus services and the closure of local services has lead to increased isolation for rural residents. For 1 in 5 living in rural England there is little choice but to own a car - even for those on lower incomes, car ownership becomes a high priority.

The provision of efficient and effective integrated transport systems, such as in Lincolnshire, can make a significant difference to those who live and work in rural England.

The availability of good transport enhances access to job opportunities, education, health services and boosts the wellbeing of communities.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to endorse this example of good practice in the provision of rural transport and would encourage other local authorities to develop their own models.”

Watch the 'Transport in Rural Areas Good Practice' film

Download the full press release

Read the social media news release

The film follows a visit to Lincolnshire earlier in the year by Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate.

Download a summary of the Rural Advocate's visit to Lincolnshire

As part of the Local Transport Plan process, transport authorities are required to carry out a process of accessibility planning. This aims to improve social inclusion for disadvantaged groups, and areas, by enhancing access to work, schools, healthcare, food shops and other key services in a co-ordinated and systematic manner.

The case studies demonstrate how access to essential services can be achieved through delivering services more locally and avoiding the need to travel further afield. Close partnership working between different agencies can also yield important benefits, including attracting finance from outside the local authority.

The case studies range from improved access to fresh food through the home delivery of vegetable boxes, opening an old railway track for cycling, walking and horse riding, to the implementation of demand responsive transport (i.e. non-scheduled services) for more isolated settlements.

Local authorities are due to produce their 3rd Local Transport Plans in 2010. This research demonstrates scope for a wide variety of approaches open to local authorities to improve access to services, some of which may not require the provision of additional transport.

Download the Rural Accessibility report and best practice case studies

The case studies are expected to be made available through the Department for Transport’s Good Practice Shared Website as part of their Local Transport Plan Guidance, so that local transport authorities will have ready availability to the information.

We welcome ATOC's report for the increased access for many rural residents to the rail network that it suggests. It's also refreshing to see analysis by the rail industry that points to the real viability of expanding rail services by linking more places into the network.

New links to towns such as Wisbech, Wantage/ Grove, Clay Cross and Ringwood, which are currently several miles from railway stations, could greatly benefit their hinterlands.

Visit ATOC's website to read the press release or download the report

CfIT will be launching a campaign supporting their report calling for Government to announce and fund a large-scale shared taxi project, ‘TaxiPlus’.

"Rural bus provision has declined steadily over the past twenty years. This, combined with a reduction in local services, such as post offices and shops, has resulted in poorer access to many facilities for the 9.5 million people living in rural England."

"Today’s visit will help us understand how community schemes like shared taxis can deliver cheaper, subsidised transport even in areas where there is currently none at all, allowing people better access to jobs and services, as well as reducing car dependence and cutting emissions."

Read the full press release

Find out more about the Rural Wheels initiative

Together with the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT), he'll be visiting the Rural Wheels initiative, a shared taxi scheme that provides subsidised travel for rural communities.

People in rural communities risk missing out on job opportunities and being cut off from services because of the continuing decline in local transport services.

“Public transport could be the lifeline for remote communities as competition for jobs increases and as more and more people have to travel to receive advice and benefits."

“Transport is a key concern for rural communities. A lack of mobility can cause real hardship.”

Lincolnshire's local authorities are tackling the issues by running on-demand public transport links, in conjunction with scheduled services to meet the travel needs of everyone in the county.

“This is exactly the kind of innovative, bespoke solution that we would like to see more public-sector partnerships rolling out across the country to tackle issues of isolation in remote locations.”

Read the full press release

Find out more about our work on transport in rural areas

Nicola's article draws on our recent transport thinkpieces, which  we've launched to help raise the profile of rural transport issues and place transport at the heart of the debate on climate change and our work on sustainable rural communities.

Read Nicola's article

Find out more about out our work on rural transport and our transport thinkpieces

The thinkpieces cover a range of topics including accessibility to key services, the likely effects of technological change and implications of road pricing for rural areas.

'Transport is a key concern for rural communities. We're anxious for these studies to provide thought-provoking insight into the possibilities for the future of rural transport and to stimulate further interest and discussion'

The 5 thinkpieces are:

• The contribution of transport to sustainable rural communities

• The implications of technological change for rural transport

• Rural life without carbon

• The potential impacts of road pricing on rural areas

• Sustainable rural accessibility – is it really possible?

Read the Rural Advocate's introduction to the thinkpieces

Read the full press release

We're holding a seminar later this month bringing together transport, environmental and rural affairs experts to discuss the issues raised in our thinkpieces.

Supported by ACoRP, The Future of Community Rail will examine best practice for getting the most out of Community Rail development in terms of community engagement, partnership working, scheme promotion and looking at alternative methods of funding.

For more information about the event visit the Future of Community Rail website

BSOG is a rebate to bus operators covering in excess of 80% of the duty element on fuel used in operating local bus services. The value of the grant is currently £413m a year, exceeded only by concessionary bus travel for elderly and disabled people in terms of funding for the bus industry.

We welcome an examination of BSOG, particularly the suggestion that it should be more closely allied to climate change targets in relation to fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions.

Nevertheless, we've warned about possible threats to rural bus services should the BSOG paid to operators be reduced. Only a relatively small number of services in rural areas operate commercially without local authority subsidy, often at low profit margins.

Any overall reduction in the BSOG received by an operator could mean services cease to become financially viable and would need a subsidy to continue. Services already in receipt of a subsidy would be affected because BSOG is taken into account by operators as part of their tender price and would have implications for local authority expenditure.

Both these circumstances would create additional budgetary pressures for local authorities, possibly affecting their ability to maintain the current network of services. 

Withdrawal of rural bus services can cause major difficulties for rural communities, in particular people without their own transport, and creates difficulties for accessing a range of services outside their local area.

Read our full response to the consultation

Fuel price increases : implications for bus operators

A more immediate concern for bus operators is the increasing cost of fuel.

Major bus operators are able to make deals with fuel suppliers which establish the price that they pay for a future period of time (known as ‘hedging’). When these agreements come to an end the companies need to make a judgement about future price movements when negotiating new arrangements.

For smaller operators the opportunity to make these deals are not available. Many rural services are provided by smaller operators and are more exposed to current market prices.

This has a significant impact on their costs and will affect profit margins and future viability without remedial action such as fare increases and cost cutting measures, which may include termination of commercial services and a need to seek higher tender prices from local authorities.

'The importance of transport in helping to create sustainable rural communities' looks at how transport is key in helping create better, more sustainable rural communities.

Read the full article

Tackling rural transport challenges requires innovation and collaboration – involving both the private and public sectors – and, above all, the wholehearted involvement of rural communities taking ownership of the problem and being part of the solution.

Read Graham's article