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| Coronavirus restrictions have led to fewer passengers. |
The UK government has announced a further tranche of Covid Bus Service Support Grant to help keep England's buses running. However, the money comes with a warning that this will be the last payment operators can expect to receive, with the Grant coming to an end by April 2022.
Fears over services and fares
The end of funding raises fears for the future of service levels and fares.
After bus use plummeted and operators lost 90% of their passengers in March 2020, the government stepped in to provide emergency funding to keep services operating. Initially expected to run for a twelve-week period, the funding had to be extended a number of times with the current installment ending in August 2021.
The latest announcement extends funding until April 2022, but at a lower level to reflect the recovery of passenger numbers in recent months. The government has also made it clear that there will be no further extensions.
The funding comes with government controls over service levels and fares, In the early days of the pandemic, bus operators were required to run no more than 50% of normal services. This was then gradually increased so that currently a 100% service level is expected. Meanwhile, fares have been frozen - and no dividends have been allowed to be paid - since April last year.
Fully Commercial
From next April, the government expects the bus industry to return to fully- commercial operation, albeit acting in "Enhanced Partnerships" with local authorities to deliver improved services under the National Bus Strategy for England. These Partnerships are supposed to be able to attract government funding from a different pot through the implementation of Bus Service Improvement Plans, although details of this and of the amounts that might be available, have not yet been made known. What is clear is that bus operators will still have to act commercially within the Partnerships and the end of Covid Bus Service Support Grant emphasises that fact.
But how easy will it be for them to do so? The recovery of ridership,having risen gradually over the Spring, appears to have stalled at about two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels. Bus industry commentators don't expect passenger numbers to exceed 80% of pre-pandemic levels for some considerable time to come, so bus companies and local authorities will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of the submission of the Bus Service Improvement Plans and to hear how much funding they will receive.
Fares to Rise?
The onset of the pandemic came just before Stagecoach's planned 2020 fares increase, which was therefore never implemented. By next April, the company's fares will not have risen for three years, whereas in previous years there have been increases of between 5 and 10%
The National Bus Strategy contains an aspiration for lower and simpler fares, but with bus companies expected to act fully commercially and with fares three years out-of-date it is difficult to how this can be achieved.
The Bus Users' Group will be watching with interest.
