Buses are a lifeline. They connect communities, ease loneliness and enable people to live full lives. They are vital to accessing work and education, especially for the 35 per cent of low-income households that have no car. They play a key part in cutting congestion and pollution.
But buses are in peril. More than a quarter of English bus services have been lost in a decade, and 16 per cent were cut in the first year of the pandemic alone.
The NOW card for people over 60 and temporary help from government in the £2 maximum single fare scheme, which runs until the end of this year, help only where there are buses to catch. Money from the cancellation of HS2 northern leg (Bus Service Improvement Plan BSIP and BSIP+) will help too. But despite this, service provision on surviving routes can be poor. Town services that run only every 30 minutes are not going to encourage car drivers to abandon their “cocoons”. And even these frequencies are at risk of being cut or hours of operation reduced.
Stagecoach has upset many communities with their change to timetables for the summer season. No consultation, no warning, just cuts and changes. Changes to the X4/5 service leave Braithwaite with a less frequent service and the residents, tourists and providers of tourist services are very unhappy because the service was well-used. Meanwhile residents of the Bassenthwaite side of the lake are not happy either because, although they have a more frequent daytime service along the A591, the evening service has been curtailed, and the one small bus a week which went through the village itself was cancelled last year.
People who live in Ireby are upset because their service (which only ran one day a week anyway) has been axed and left them completely cut off.
Cumberland is trying to use its BSIP money wisely to subsidise those services which are most likely to become viable. People want to use buses more frequently and leave their cars at home, and we all understand the need to travel by more sustainable methods. However, with car travel still too cheap and vast sums of our money spent by Government on roads and facilities to cater for them, it certainly isn’t easy for many people.
While various members of various political parties make the right noises about increasing rural bus services, the private ownership of public services means there is a fundamental mismatch in priorities. The first duty of a private company is profit for its shareholders. The first duty of a public service is to provide a usable service to as many people as possible. Until we have a Government which is prepared to grasp the nettle, make car travel less attractive and bring public services into public ownership, rural areas will be at the mercy of commercial companies.
Alistair Grey
