Buses

Is your local service under threat, or do you want to campaign for better services? Then contact us for help and advice. With public transport patronage suffering due to continued cuts, getting passengers back on the bus is incredibly important, especially if we are not going to be choked by even greater car use.

Bus Back Better

The Government published its first ever national bus strategy for England, Bus Back Better in March 2021. It set a number of challenges which if they had been backed up by funding could put the bus back at the centre of local transport provision. Unfortunately, the Treasury has taken the Covid support money for buses out of that set aside for improvements.

Spiral of decline

There have been large cuts in supported services over the past decade which are mostly funded by local authorities, often uneconomic or more marginal, often in the evenings and weekends, and very often rural.  The Government has also reduced the amount it pays for concessionary bus passes which has made a number of previously commercial services unviable, even when they were well used.  The final straw for many operators has been the rise in congestion caused by Government spending on roads and cuts in fuel duty.  This has created a vicious circle of fewer passengers, more cars and congestion, slower and more expensive buses and so on.

This triple whammy has hit bus services hard and resulted in the loss of many services, increased prices and unreliable and delayed services as the annual bus statistics show. The result has been that many communities, including some sizeable villages, have found themselves isolated in public transport deserts. Young and old have been left stranded unless they can afford, often expensive, taxi fares.

Campaigning for change

Depending on your circumstances and the type of service you are trying to protect or want to see provided, there are a number of different things you can do.

Better Buses Campaign is a new national network of grassroots bus campaigners who are organising a week of action at the beginning of October. You can find our more information on their website.

CPRE have their Every village, every hour campaign to try to get local government to start taking buses seriously and not as some nice to have afterthought. It's worth getting in touch with them especially if you live in a rural area and to sign their petition. The WI are also active on this issue with their Get on board campaign.

Campaign for Better Transport's Save our Buses Campaign Pack is well worth a look, but if you can't find what you are after please get in touch. If you live in London the issues are slightly different as bus services are franchised so Transport for London has control over services and ticket prices. Elsewhere, while franchising can be an option, often the powers have to be requested and a case made for this to happen under the Bus Services Act 2017. Campaign for Better Transport has produced some guidance on the Act as well as a report on the future of rural bus services.

Share