£3 billion bus revolution announced

A new bus strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, will see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the ‘most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation’ will see lower, simpler flat fares in towns and cities, turn-up-and-go services on main routes, and new flexible services to reconnect communities.

Amongst the changes, the government will seek to introduce simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs, as well as more services in the evenings and at the weekends. Additionally, there will be better integration of services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train.

It is hoped that such a ‘levelling up’ across the country will encourage more people to use the bus, rather than the car.

The government has also announced that hundreds of miles of new bus lanes will make journeys quicker and more reliable, getting people out of their cars, reducing pollution and operating costs.

Johnson said: “Buses are lifelines and liberators, connecting people to jobs they couldn’t otherwise take, driving pensioners and young people to see their friends, sustaining town centres and protecting the environment.

“As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our first acts of levelling-up. Just as they did in London, our reforms will make buses the transport of choice, reducing the number of car journeys and improving quality of life for millions.”

Sam Tarry, Labour’s Shadow Bus Minister, commented:  “This so-called strategy offers nothing for those who were looking for a bold vision to reverse the millions of miles of bus routes lost across the country. People will be wondering when they return to work whether there will be enough affordable and regular buses for their daily commute.

“The Tories said deregulation would improve our buses but they’re running bus services into the ground. Passengers now face a toxic mix of rising fares, cuts to services and reduced access. The government must do more to protect this crucial sector – not least given we’ve already seen more than 1,000 jobs lost in the bus and coach manufacturing industry alone since the pandemic started.”