Conclusions and recommendations
1. London has seen bus usage increase by 32%
over recent years; but outside London bus usage has fallen by
7%, putting at risk the Department's target for increased bus
use in every English region by 2010.
Increasing bus usage would help reduce congestion and emissions,
but achievement of the target for growth in bus usage in all regions
in the period 2008-2011 will require a reversal of the current
downward trend. The Department should identify what factors have
been critical for success in London, and how far they might be
replicated in the other regions to stimulate the desired expansion.
2. The success in London can be attributed
to the commitment shown by the Mayor and Transport for London;
measures to support growth and investment in bus services while
restricting car use; and a straightforward delivery chain achieved
through effective regulation. The Mayor
is to be congratulated on his success in increasing bus usage
in London. Achieving this combination of success factors is more
complex outside London, where bus services are largely provided
commercially and are unregulated, and hence commitment and action
by a wider range of stakeholders are needed to achieve growth.
3. Difficult issues influencing bus usage
include how subsidies are allocated, the use of concessionary
fares funding, and the potential risks to fares competition if
one or two operators dominate a local market.
Whilst ultimately matters of policy, the Department should review
whether changes to the basis and/or balance of funding within
subsidy and grant schemes, between operator subsidy and concessionary
fares, and between revenue and capital funding schemes, would
better deliver the aim of increasing bus usage and reducing congestion
and emissions. For example, extension of concessionary fares to
children travelling to school in the morning might be shown to
reduce school run congestion significantly, and increase bus usage.
4. The Department has limited levers to influence
bus use directly, being reliant on the actions and commitment
of local authorities, which in turn determine priorities for increasing
bus usage and restraint of car use. The
Department should therefore agree challenging targets for bus
growth with the largest local authorities, and those with the
greatest congestion problems, which will establish authorities'
individual contributions to delivery of the national target. The
Department should disseminate successful local initiatives more
widely, challenging local authorities with low bus growth rates
to learn from those with thriving local services.
5. The Transport Act 2000 provides for local
authorities to apply to the Secretary of State to remove an operator's
right to run commercial services, but only where this approach
would be their only practicable means of delivering their Local
Transport Plan, and no local authority has yet made such an application.
The Department should review whether the legislative barrier has
been set too high and works against the public interest aims of
improving the extent and quality of bus services, and reducing
road congestion and emissions. It should also obtain and make
available to local authorities legal advice on the interaction
of the Transport Act 2000 provisions with the Human Rights Act
1998 which the Department believes would protect an operator's
right to run services.
6. The Department does not obtain data necessary
to measure the contribution which bus services make to reducing
congestion and emissions, and increasing accessibility, nor does
it monitor the operation of the bus services market and the extent
to which monopolies may exist and be affecting fare levels and
passenger demand. Without such data, it
is difficult to see how the Department can determine whether its
current range of measures is delivering the policy outcomes required.
7. The Department provided no evidence on
whether voluntary codes of practice had led to improvements in
the quality of local bus services, and information on commercial
operators' performance is not available routinely to the Traffic
Commissioners or the public outside London.
The Department should encourage local authorities to set targets
and monitor a range of quality of service measures, and agree
with operators that performance data should be made available
to the Traffic Commissioners and the public.
8. There is scope to reduce the cost of providing
and using local bus services, for example by improving procurement
processes, letting longer contracts, and tendering for supported
services across an area rather than for individual or small packages
of routes. The administrative costs of
concessionary fare schemes could also be reduced if there was
greater standardisation and simplification, reducing the need
for extensive negotiations within each area, and making it easier
for passengers to travel across local authority boundaries. The
Department should agree action plans with local authorities and
other stakeholders.
9. The Transport Innovation Fund, providing
funding for new schemes from 2008-09 with a budget of £290
million rising to £2.5 billion in 2014-15, may offer an opportunity
to increase the use of public transport.
To achieve success, the Department will need to link the funding
for schemes to the achievement of specific measurable outcomes
which contribute to the Department's objectives for reducing congestion
and emissions, and increasing accessibility. More active interest
and leadership by the Department might stimulate greater innovation.
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