Fares for the City Council’s demand-responsive transport service MK Connect have increased with opposition councillors describing the service as 'failed'.
Fares have increased for Milton Keynes' MK Connect service which was introduced by the Labour and Lib Dem coalition on Milton Keynes City Council back in 2021.
MK Connect is the city’s local transport service aimed at residents who aren’t served by an existing bus route and can’t get around by other means.
Vehicles are shared by passengers heading the same way, with pickups typically within a couple of hundred metres of the passenger’s home.
The City Council reported that around 435,000 journeys were made last year using MK Connect and it is the biggest service of its kind in the UK.
Conservative councillors are now slamming the move which has seen an increase of 10% to fare prices ,with the Milton Keynes Conservative Leader calling it a 'failing service'.
Cllr David Hopkins, Group Leader of MK Conservative Group said : “The council has already diverted £500,000 of local planning gain monies to subsidise the failing MK Connect service. Money that should be used to provide much needed community facilities in our newly developing areas or which could be seed funding new reliable, timetabled bus services in those areas.
"We know many residents in areas furthest from health, shopping and education facilities are struggling to find transport solutions and we would prioritise supporting residents where we can.”
The Labour and Liberal Democrat ran Council have been highly supportive of the service Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Sustainability, Cllr Jennifer Wilson-Marklew said back in January: “We’re proud that MK Connect is having such a positive impact for our residents who rely on the service. We’ve learnt lessons from when we first introduced MK Connect and we’re always listening to feedback and looking for ways to improve the service even further. It’s thanks to innovative transport methods like this that we can help people get around our city in a sustainable way and achieve our climate ambitions.”
READ MORE: MK Connect making Milton Keynes roads cleaner and greener
