The government has finally released its long-awaited National Bus Strategy for England, which now goes under the snappier title of "Bus Back Better". Although the bulk of it would have been written before the onset of Covid-19 it has clearly been revised to take account of the effects on the pandemic on the present position and future of the bus industry.
The media have focused on items such as the promised 4,000 new zero-emission buses and the "hundreds of miles" of new bus lanes, but whilst these are important the Strategy also announces a complete overhaul in the way England's buses (outside London) are organised and regulated.
End of the Commercial Model
The government's announcement includes the statement that: "the fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end." This system, introduced incidentally by a previous Conservative administration, is now admitted to have the following problems:
- Services are less frequent than they should be, especially in rural areas
- Evening and Sunday buses have disappeared from many routes
- Fares are too high and tickets bought from one bus company can't be used on another company's buses, even on the same route.
- Bus companies act independently and compete with each other rather than co-operating where this would be in the public interest.
- Bus services are too complicated and information is fragmented and too difficult to come by to attract new passengers.
In fairness to bus companies many of these problems have been caused by legislation, especially the Competition Act of 1998, which made things like joint timetables and ticket acceptance legally difficult for them to implement. The new system will, however, see an end to on-the-road competition and usher in a new era of co-operation, bringing England into line with just about everywhere else in the world!
Enter Partnerships
The government now wants to see bus operators enter into "Enhanced Partnerships" with local councils to bring about the changes it wants to see. Enhanced Partnerships were set up under the Bus Services Act 2017. Operators and councils get together to develop plans to improve bus services with each side committing to measures such as improved frequencies, better buses, bus priority schemes and better publicity.
Perhaps because they require legally-enforceable commitments, the take-up of Partnership schemes has been low so far, but crucially the emergency funding known as Covid Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) under which bus operators receive £1 per kilometre operated to compensate for the huge fall in ridership currently experienced, will only be paid if such Partnerships are in place. Any future government funding will also be dependent on partnership working.
What will change?
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| "Turn up and go: Buses so frequent you won't need a timetable! |
The Strategy aims to replicate the benefits that have been seen in London, where de-regulation and competition never applied. It wants to see:
- Turn up and go" services on main urban routes, on which buses will be so frequent that passengers won't need to consult a timetable
- Better frequencies on quieter and rural routes
- Improved evening and Sunday buses, perhaps by the use of Demand-Responsive services.
- More bus lanes and bus priority schemes
- Lower fares, with simple flat fares in urban areas and price caps which limit the cost of travel over a day or a week however many journeys are made.
- Multi-operator ticketing whereby tickets bought from one bus company are accepted on another company's buses in the same area.
- Bus stops should be improved to make them more attractive to potential passengers and there is an expectation that bus stations should be protected from closure and redevelopment.
- Better publicity with operators obliged to include other operators' journeys in their timetables and all passengers to have access to maps that show all bus routes in a particular area.
- Most improvements in publicity will be delivered digitally via websites and apps although it is recognised that there is still a place for "hard copy" paper-based information. (Stagecoach please note!)
- A review of accessibility regulations for buses that will look at the potential for increasing the amount of space for wheelchairs and will clarify the legal position on use of the wheelchair space by passengers.
Bus Passes
The Strategy re-states the government's commitment to the Concessionary Bus Pass, which will continue unchanged except that it might include a digital option with passes stored on holders' smartphones. Eligibility for Disabled Person's passes will be reviewed to ensure that it "ensures equality of opportunity".
When will this happen?
The timescale is tight.
Local authorities, such as Lancashire County Council will be expected to start work on preparing the Partnership schemes straight away and have to commit to the process by the end of June.
From 1st July 2021, Covid Bus Service Support Grant will only be paid to bus companies in areas where the process of developing partnerships has started.
By October 2021 all local authorities will be expected to have produced a Bus Service Improvement Plan and the Enhanced Partnership regime will come into force from April 2022
Will it be enough?
The total budget for the National Bus Strategy is £3 billion, spread over a number of years. In 2021/2 £300 million is allocated to enhancing bus services and a further £25 million will go to councils to meet the extra costs, primarily staff costs, of developing and administering the Partnerships.
What is not known is how much of this funding is coming Lancashire's way. However, some guidance might be obtained from the fact that in 2020/21 the county council received £750,000 from the government's "Better Deal for Bus Users" £30 million fund that was also intended to improve bus services.
If, and it's a big if, the new fund is disbursed in the same way, the county council could be in line to receive as much as £7.5 million. This would be enough to restore the cuts made since 2016 to rural, evening and Sunday services and to at least make a start on further improvements.
Although the need for emergency funding such as CBSSG will reduce over time as patronage recovers "after Covid", any funding for further improvements will be needed for much longer and will require a long-term commitment from this and perhaps future governments if the initial investment is not to be wasted.
The Guidance on implementing Enhanced Partnerships requires the council to "involve" the public and representatives of passenger groups in the preparation of the Bus Improvement Plans. Lancashire knows where we are and we look forward to hearing from them!
You can read the whole document here. Bus Back Better
