Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of public
transport.
The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video
call.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, public transport faces significant challenges: lower
passenger demand, reduced capacity as a result of social
distancing and higher than usual staff absence levels. We are
working very closely with transport operators as they increase
their services and are providing financial support where
necessary.
(LD)
I welcome the Government’s intervention but, to be commercially
successful, buses and trains have to be very full, yet the social
distancing measures require them to be only 15% full. Working and
travel patterns have changed as a result of the virus, so do the
Government accept that in future they need to work more closely
with local authorities and to reform core funding for buses to
encourage the use of zero-emissions vehicles and ensure that
fares are affordable?
The noble Baroness is quite right. We are working very closely
with local authorities to meet the needs of local communities,
particularly in relation to buses, on which, as she recognises,
capacity has been significantly reduced. We have an opportunity
in that there will be a national bus strategy, in which we will
look at how to put low-emissions vehicles on our streets.
(Lab)
My Lords, over the weekend, the roads in beauty spots and
especially in national parks were blocked by parked cars, so much
so that emergency services here in the Lake District National
Park were not able to get through. However, you cannot get either
into or around the national park by public transport. Will HMG
therefore think very seriously indeed about any further
relaxation of the lockdown, such as opening hotels or boarding
houses, until we resolve the public transport problem?
The noble Lord is right that there is a significant increase in
traffic at the moment, and in certain circumstances that has led
to localised congestion from parking. Of course, local
authorities and the local police have the power to move cars on
to make sure that emergency vehicles are not prevented from
getting to their destination.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, transportation connects the nation. Organisations such
as the AA have predicted that traffic levels will remain lower
due to Covid-19. What implications will that have for the
Government’s £28.8 billion road-building programme, which is
based on 1% annual growth in traffic demand?
The long-term impact of the current pandemic on road traffic is
yet to be established, but we are, of course, keeping it under
review. The noble Lord mentioned that vehicle excise duty goes
into the national roads fund and that is used to both enhance and
maintain our strategic road network as well as many other major
roads. So there could be an implication for this particular fund;
we are keeping an eye on it.
(Con)
My Lords, it seems obvious that social distancing, even if
reduced to 1 metre, is impossible to observe while using public
transport. Many countries, including France, Spain and Germany,
have made the wearing of masks compulsory on public transport.
Such a rule substantially removes the risk of direct transfer of
the virus from person to person. Will my noble friend consider
introducing a similar requirement in the UK?
The current guidance says that face coverings are advised on
public transport and elsewhere, particularly in cases where
social distancing is not possible. We are keeping this situation
under review with regard to its extension and how we communicate
that to our passengers.
(LD)
Most public transport uses air conditioning, which recirculates
viruses, bacteria and other nasty things in the air. Will the
Government consider a proper scientific examination of this
problem to see whether air-conditioning systems can be modified,
as I believe they can, to eliminate this transmission of disease?
I would like to put the concern of the noble Lord to rest in that
air-conditioning systems exist in all sorts of circumstances; the
Government are indeed looking to ensure that viruses are not
significantly recirculated throughout any particular environment.
(Con)
Will my noble friend acknowledge that passenger scheduled and
charter flights are as much a form of public transport as
anything else, and that thousands of jobs in the airlines,
airports, aerospace industries and their suppliers, and the
communities around them, depend on those flights resuming to a
reasonable level? Can the Minister indicate what steps the
Government are taking, and what conversations they are having, to
co-operate with other Governments and co-ordinate with other
countries, particularly in Europe, to ensure that airports and
airlines operate to a common standard, allowing flights to resume
to as near normal as possible, as quickly as possible?
My noble friend will probably agree with me that aviation is a
core part of our transport system and a great provider of jobs in
this country. It is going through an unprecedented time at the
moment in that, of course, most flights are not currently taking
place. We are working very closely with the aviation industry—the
UK-based aviation providers, the regulators in the EU and
beyond—to establish international standards for getting our
planes back into the sky while making sure that, when passengers
can fly, they are safe.
(CB)
My Lords, I want to follow the question posed by the noble
Viscount, Lord Trenchard, and the Minister’s answer. Given that
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has studied best
practice across the world in controlling Covid-19 and includes in
its four core recommendations the use of cloth masks when around
other people, will the Minister pursue the urgent need to mandate
the wearing of cloth masks on public transport, not only to save
lives but to encourage far more people to use public transport
and get to work?
I agree that the wearing of face coverings will be a very
important element in restoring confidence in our public
transport, not only for the passengers and the workforce but, in
the longer term, for the industry. It is really important that
people should wear face coverings on our public transport; that
is the message that we are putting out there at the moment. Of
course, any changes such as mandating the use of face coverings
is an issue for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies,
which is considering this.
(Lab)
Given that, at least in the short to medium term, the economics
of public transport are likely to be altered by lifestyle changes
resulting from Covid-19, such as more people working from home
and less international travel, will the Government provide
financial support to public transport operators while they adjust
to lifestyle changes of this kind once the pandemic is finally
brought under control?
The Government are already providing financial support to a range
of transport operators to make sure that they can operate as good
a service as possible in the current environment. This will
include funding for buses and light rail—and of course we have
the Emergency Measures Agreement for all our heavy rail services.
The situation is being kept under review. As demand changes over
time and as the country comes out of lockdown, clearly, demand
for public transport will go up, but it is not clear exactly when
it will become commercially viable to operate public transport
without government support.
(LD)
My Lords, buried in the detail of the government bailout for
Transport for London is a requirement to end free travel for
under-18s. Will the Government urgently reconsider this
outrageous condition, which deliberately targets young people by
making them pay the price for the Covid crisis, and which will
disproportionately impact the poorest families in London?
That requirement is not buried in the detail as the noble Lord
has said—it is on the face of the funding agreement reached
between the Government and TfL. Both parties agreed to all the
items within that document. We asked TfL to come up with
operational plans such that we can temporarily remove free travel
for under-18s. No other part of the rest of the country has free
travel for under-18s; given that this £1.6 billion is being
funded from general taxation, it strikes me that it is not fair
for the rest of the country to pay for free travel for the
under-18s at this time. Given the need to get people off public
transport, on to their bikes and walking, it also strikes me that
younger people can be at the forefront of that change.
