Changes to tendering rules by the Government will help local authorities get buses onto rural routes more quickly.
Transport Minister Dr John Reid has announced he is raising the price of subsidy contracts which can be awarded to bus operators without a tender process.
Councils award contracts to bus operators to work about 15 per cent of services which are not commercially viable. 

Information about what public organisations need to do to improve their service to the public has emerged from the often-criticised Child Support Agency.
Though damning, the first report of the Independent Case Examiner - appointed last year - points to the causes of the CSA’s problems, and to what action is likely to be effective in addressing them.
Anne Parker, who took up the new post 18 months ago, criticises the Agency for being largely unresponsive to customers’ complaints.