Charity calls for Government to step in after annual bus stats reveal a decade of decline

Campaign for Better Transport is calling on the Government to step in and support local buses after figures reveal a decade of decline.

The Department for Transport’s annual bus statistics for the year ending March 2022, published today (31 January), reveal a picture of long-term decline, with a 19 per cent decrease in bus vehicle miles and a 39 per cent drop in passenger journeys in Great Britain in the last decade (2011/12 to 2021/22). 

The figures also reveal buses are still struggling to recover post-pandemic with 7.5 per cent fewer vehicle miles in Great Britain (-6% England, -12% Scotland, -18% Wales) and 30 per cent fewer bus passenger journeys (-30 per cent in England, -42 per cent in Wales and -35 per cent in Scotland) than before the pandemic.

Norman Baker, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “It’s been almost two years since the Government published its strategy to expand and improve bus services, yet today’s figures reveal a decade of decline with many communities effectively cut off from the public transport network.

“The Government has supported bus services through the pandemic, but all that good work will be wasted if it walks away now. To avoid buses tumbling over a funding cliff edge at the end of March, a robust scheme of financial support must be put in place with ringfenced funding for local authorities so they can work with bus operators to support services and an extension of the £2 bus fare cap to help boost passenger numbers.”

With the Government’s covid recovery funding for bus services set to finish at the end of March - at the same time as the current £2 bus fare cap incentive - the sustainable transport charity is urging the Government to step in with more financial support for buses.

To prevent further cuts, boost passenger numbers and help improve services in the long term, Campaign for Better Transport is calling for:

• A three-month extension of the £2 bus fare cap which ends on 31 March
• All local authority bus funding ringfenced so it cannot be spent on other public services
• The Department for Transport to be responsible for all local authority bus funding, rather than shared with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• One long-term funding pot for buses, rather than the current fragmented and competitive system of funding which disadvantages some areas of the country.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The Department for Transport’s Annual Bus Statistics year ending March 2022 can be found here.
2. Campaign for Better Transport’s previous research revealed one in four bus services had been cut in England in the last decade.
3. The Government extended its Bus Recovery Grant until 31 March 2023.
4. The £2 bus fare cap is a Government incentive scheme to help passengers with the cost of living and caps a single bus journey at £2 until the end of March.
5. The Department for Transport is responsible for transport funding, but some local authority bus funding is allocated by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Despite being allocated to provide supported bus services, it is not ringfenced and as such can be spent on other local authority services instead.
6. Campaign for Better Transport analysis highlighted how the competitive nature of Government funding for local transport is disadvantaging rural local authorities and failing rural communities. Read the analysis here.
7. The Government’s national strategy to improve bus services, Bus Back Better, was published in March 2021.