1 Performance against the PSA target
1. The PSA target to increase bus and light rail
usage by 12% by 2010 is important to achievement of the Department's
wider transport objectives of reducing emissions, relieving congestion
and increasing accessibility. Reversing the history of 40 years
of decline in bus passenger numbers to achieve growth in every
region by 2008-2011, the last three years of the target period,
represented a significant challenge.[2]
2. The Department expected to achieve the 12% greater
usage target as bus and light rail use has increased by 8% in
the first four years of the Department's target period. The increase
in bus usage to date has not been uniform across England, however
(Figure 1). Significant growth in bus usage of 32% had been achieved
in London, and based on an agreed delivery plan, the Department
expected London to continue to deliver its contribution to the
target. Elsewhere in England, however, bus usage had fallen by
7% between 2000-01 and 2004-05. There were counties, towns and
cities where bus usage was growing, for example, Nottinghamshire
and Exeter, and in South East and the South West regions the decline
in bus usage had stopped recently. The Department estimated that
passenger numbers would increase by 5% in Passenger Transport
Executive areas and 14% in other areas as a result of the extension
of the national minimum for concessionary fares to fully free
fares for people over 60 and the disabled with effect from 1 April
2006. Local authorities' draft local transport plans forecast
an average growth in bus use of 8% over the five years from 2006
to 2011. The Department agreed that it was still unlikely that
growth would be achieved in all regions.[3]
3. The Department had responsibility and accountability
for achievement of the target but had to deliver the required
outcome through complex delivery chains, involving local government
and commercial operators, independently regulated by the Traffic
Commissioners and the Office of Fair Trading (Figure 2).
A firmer steer and a more active interest in achievement of the
target by the Department would encourage others in the delivery
chain to make the commitment necessary to improve bus usage.[4]
Figure2: The delivery chains for bus services in London and outside London
Source: Joint National Audit Office and Audit
Commission bus industry work shops
4. The way subsidy is allocated could affect delivery
of the PSA target, but the Department regarded funding as a policy
issue and hence would not comment on the use of subsidy, including
whether more might be achieved through the reallocation of existing
subsidies. Public revenue spending on bus services totalled some
£2 billion. Bus Service Operators' Grant, which subsidises
companies for the amount of fuel they use, amounted to £359
million in 2004-05. The Department had undertaken a public consultation
and modelled various options to redirect the funding, but there
had been little appetite from authorities or operators for any
change, for example to allocate the funding on the basis of the
number of passengers carried. Concessionary fares cost £469
million in 2004-05, and the extension of the national minimum
concession to free fares for people over 60 and the disabled with
effect from 1 April 2006 would cost an additional £350 million.
The Department did not have a view, for example, on whether children
should also be eligible for concessionary fares when travelling
to school in the morning although such an approach might increase
bus usage and reduce school run traffic, a major contributor to
congestion. Other targeted funding, such as the Rural Bus Subsidy
Grant at £50 million a year, represented a relatively small
sum. The Transport Innovation Fund, effective from 2008-09 would
be significant at £290 million in 2008-09 rising to £2.5
billion in 2014-15 and the Department believed the fund would
incentivise local authorities to increase public transport use.[5]
5. The PSA target was intended to contribute to a
reduction in congestion and emissions, and improved accessibility
but the Department had not been able to measure the target's impact
because of a lack of information. Updated Local Transport Plans
have been in place since March 2006, and the ten most congested
urban areas in England would have agreed local congestion targets.
All local authorities would have set accessibility strategies
and targets. The Department would be able to use such information
to link local authorities' progress against congestion and accessibility
targets with their policies on supporting increased bus usage.[6]
2 Qq 1, 119 Back
3
Qq 11, 68, 72, 101, 107-109; C&AG's Report, para 2 Back
4
Qq 24-26 Back
5
Qq 5, 56, 115, 122-123, 128-129, 158 Back
6
Q 4 Back
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