Last week I said I would get around to reading the transcript of the first evidence session of the Transport Select Committee’s latest inquiry into the bus industry, but without any expectation of being told anything that I, and the rest of the industry, didn’t already know. I have now read said transcript, and my expectations were spot on.
Lilian Greenwood, the Committee Chair, started proceedings by asking the witnesses what bus users want to see from their bus services.
Responses
Guess what? Claire Walters from Bus Users UK told us they wanted to get on a bus without having to walk miles to get to the bus stop. Claire Haigh from Greener Journeys told us that speed and convenience of service was fundamental. Linda McCord from Transport Focus enlightened us with the astonishing news that the top priority for bus users was value for money and that it was all about “delivering the basics” and “getting from A to B” and buses being on time. And the new Chief Executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, Darren Shipley, told us it was “a punctual and reliable service that is value for money”.
Forgive me for being a touch flippant, but do we really need a Transport Select Committee hearing to tell us these time-honoured truths about what bus passengers want from their bus services? Ms Greenwood even told us that she was “excited” to be starting the oral evidence sessions on the Committee’s inquiry.
The reality
But the reality is that there is still a polarised view on whether we should move towards a more regulated or franchised system, at least in the bigger conurbations.
The first set of witnesses that I’ve mentioned above focused more on the fact that most cuts to bus services were largely down to reduced funding for local authorities, with subsidised services, therefore representing the bulk of service cuts.
But the second set from ODI Leeds and the Chartered Institute of Logistic and Transport seemed to think that there was a strong case for far greater state intervention, at both local and national level, to support bus services in order to encourage and facilitate greater use of the bus. In its written evidence, ODI Leeds described deregulation as a “disaster” for the economy of the UK’s big cities.
But the point ODI Leeds is really making, I think, is that our big cities don’t function efficiently because of the level of congestion.
Now I agree totally with that. But at the risk of repeating myself, the idea that regulation will solve “the problem” when “the problem” is caused by congestion is for the birds.
Regulation won’t make a bus go faster. What we need in our major cities is congestion charging and work place parking levies. Unless – and until – local and national politicians are prepared to grasp this nettle no amount of regulation will solve the problem.
