The Transport Select Committee Chair, Ruth Cadbury MP (from the Cadbury chocolate family), said recently at the launch of the Buses Bill 2: “Buses are fundamental to many people’s quality of life. Without them, residents on low incomes, and older and younger people, face social exclusion or being cut off from employment and services such as hospitals or education.” In many areas, that is tragically already the case.
The DfT should change the way funding is provided to ensure councils and bus firms are committed to running socially necessary services and, on that basis, should also adopt an ambition for all councils to develop and maintain a minimum level of public transport connectivity. To achieve this, the sector will need financial certainty, which is why we say the Government should announce funding in five-year blocks
Those most affected by unreliable or indeed non-existent buses include the young, who need them to get to school, college or university, and to reach their first jobs. Denying young people these experiences denies them their life chances. We call for a universal, free bus pass for all under-22s to equalise opportunity. While the bus fare caps have been beneficial, the Government has yet to set out a coherent strategy of what it aims to achieve, and whether more targeted options could deliver better outcomes
Franchising works for London and Manchester, but it is unlikely to be a silver bullet for the rest of the country. Many local councils’ workforces now lack the skills and capacity to suddenly start overseeing bus services. We therefore say that the Bus Centre of Excellence should be expanded to provide more targeted support and training. While the Government’s Bus Services Bill contains positive ideas, the Transport Committee’s report says ministers should ‘go further to get bums back on seat
As the old TV advert used to say, “If Carlsberg did transport reports, this would probably be the best of the best.” I wholeheartedly agree with every single thought and suggestion. It strips the bus right back to its roots and quite simply gives young and old that most basic of needs: social inclusion and robust mental health. It also tackles the long-term elephant in the room of the past 40 years; namely, making sure there is consistent, proper funding in five-year blocks.
To be fair, I also fully support the suggestion that the Bus Centre of Excellence should be funded to support the bus industry’s future. This is a great opportunity to put the bus at the heart of our communities; it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a real difference to our quality of life and to combating climate change. In conclusion, the Buses Bill 2 is vitally important to our future quality of life, and as an industry we have a moral obligation to support it as best we can.
Written by Austin Birks
