We have supported the provision of bus services in rural areas by means of rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG), a grant paid to local
transport authorities according to numbers living in rural areas. RBSG allocations to Cumbria county council since the grant's introduction in 1998 are shown in the following table.
Allocation 1998-99 957,384 1999-2000 957,384 2000-01 957,384 2001-02 1,222,506 2002-03 1,399,254 2003-04 1,428,712 2004-05 1,471,573 2005-06 1,529,273 2006-07 1,566,783 2007-08 1,604,293 Total 13,094,545
In addition, we have encouraged the development of innovative solutions to meeting rural transport needs by means of Rural Bus Challenge (RBC) competitions held from 1998 to 2003. RBC awards to Cumbria county council are shown in the following table.
Award 1999-2000 722,000 2000-01 800,000 2001-02 542,300 2002-03 805,573 2003-04 482,594 Total 3,352,467
Local authorities also support rural public transport from their own resources, including revenue support grant from central government.
Rail funding is not split on a county by county basis and therefore we cannot provide a specific figure for rail support for Cumbria.