By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
Accept
routeonerouteonerouteone
  • News
    • Show all
    • Awards & Events
    • Deliveries
    • Environment
    • Exhibitor News
    • Euro Bus Expo 2024
    • Features
    • Legal
    • Minibus and minicoach
    • Operators
    • Opinion
    • People
    • Suppliers
    • Vehicles
  • Vehicles
    • Find a Vehicle
    • ZEV Comparison Tool
    • Sell a Vehicle
    • Vehicle Seller Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • Events
    • British Tourism & Travel Show
    • Euro Bus Expo
    • Innovation Challenge
    • Livery Competition
    • routeone Awards
  • Advertise
  • Contact
    • Share your news
    • Subscribe
    • Update Subscription Details
  • Latest Issue
  • SIGN UP
Search
© 2024 routeone News. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: NBS ‘only a reasonable start at best’
Share
Font ResizerAa
routeonerouteone
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
    • Show all
    • Awards & Events
    • Deliveries
    • Environment
    • Exhibitor News
    • Euro Bus Expo 2024
    • Features
    • Legal
    • Minibus and minicoach
    • Operators
    • Opinion
    • People
    • Suppliers
    • Vehicles
  • Vehicles
    • Find a Vehicle
    • ZEV Comparison Tool
    • Sell a Vehicle
    • Vehicle Seller Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • Events
    • British Tourism & Travel Show
    • Euro Bus Expo
    • Innovation Challenge
    • Livery Competition
    • routeone Awards
  • Advertise
  • Contact
    • Share your news
    • Subscribe
    • Update Subscription Details
  • Latest Issue
  • SIGN UP
Follow US
© 2024 routeone News | Powered by Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd
- Advertisement -
-
routeone > Opinion > NBS ‘only a reasonable start at best’
Opinion

NBS ‘only a reasonable start at best’

Ralph Roberts
Ralph Roberts
Published: May 16, 2022
Share
SHARE

While he welcomed the Natonal Bus Strategy and the vision that created it, CPT President Ralph Roberts argues ‘a lack of ambition’ is being displayed in the funding levels

Last month I, alongside other Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) board members, met senior officials of the Department for Transport to discuss a range of matters affecting the industry. One of the topics was the National Bus Strategy (NBS) and the funding of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) to fulfil this strategy.

My view is that, while I welcomed NBS and the vision that created it, there is a lack of ambition being displayed in the funding levels. I accept that it is impossible to reverse decades of underinvestment in one fell swoop – perhaps foolish to try – but this toe in the water is only a reasonable start at best.

The Bus Partnership Fund in Scotland allocates £500m to provide bus priority schemes to make bus more attractive. When this was launched, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Michael Matheson, challenged the industry to show him what could be achieved and that was the best way to release more funding. Perhaps that is what is in mind for England?

Once pro rata is applied to the £500m in Scotland, England should have seen a fund of circa £5bn for the BSIP programme. Perhaps the idea is that it will be £1bn per annum for five years? This would make sense, but it would also make sense to tell people rather than leave us guessing.

Bus companies up and down the country could get on with five-year plans, and local authorities could work their strategies around this. Bus users would know what is coming downstream and keep the faith, rather than the current situation where car is king and hogs all of the policy (and road space). After all, this is what our smaller sibling – the rail industry – manages to do.

And what of Wales? The Welsh government wishes to go in a different direction altogether, but still hasn’t figured out the funding. Funding, as ever, is the key to everything. Odd, then, that the treasury would cost itself £2.4bn by cutting fuel duty by 5p per litre. If that money was up for reallocation, imagine what it could have achieved over five years if given to the coach and bus sector. True transformation, and a just levelling up for bus users, whose voices have been somewhat ignored for long enough.

Let’s keep heart and celebrate the awards. If you weren’t awarded funding, or it fell short in this round, let’s keep the NBS and the BSIPs alive. Keep refining and improving them and keep submitting them.

And, last but not least, let’s keep pointing out the incredibly good value it is to invest in bus infrastructure, bus services and bus users. This is one area where it costs more when you don’t spend than it does when you do.

TAGGED:fundingNational Bus StrategyNBS
Share This Article
Facebook LinkedIn Threads Email Copy Link
Previous Article Will leisure travel be the bus industry saviour? Will leisure travel be the bus industry’s saviour?
Next Article UKCOA Interview: Anthony Marett
- Advertisement -

Latest News

Go-Ahead London – Managing Director
Careers Jobs
andy burnham tfgm £15.6 billion (1) The funding announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves today (4 June) has been allocated to several combined mayoral authorities to use on rail, tram, road and bus infrastructure. Transport for Greater Manchester revealed today that part of the £2.5 billion it will receive will go towards making the Bee Network fully battery-electric by 2030. An as-yet undecided portion of that will support a planned investment in 1,000 new zero-emission buses over that period, the mayoral authority said. That is part of plans to build the UK's "first fully integrated, zero-emission public transport system", with trams and trains also set to benefit. Liverpool City Region's already announced BRT system is among the projects to which its £1.6 billion will be allocated. Under those plans - due for realisation by 2028 - a high-speed network will be served by articulated buses which are modelled on the 'Glider' in Belfast. It is due to link Liverpool city centre with John Lennon Airport, and Liverpool FC and Everton FC's respective stadia along three routes. Although the model of bus has not been confirmed, a Van Hool Exqui.City on loan from Belfast was last year used as a demonstrator. That 18m vehicle can accommodate around 30% more passengers than a typical bus and has three sets of double doors. The funding will also go towards buses elsewhere in the city as the region heads towards franchising services by 2027. Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram with a 'Glider' which was on loan from Belfast last year - an example of the sort of bus which could serve the new BRT Bus services in the East Midlands region will be boosted by the funding, thanks to the £2 billion handed to it today by the government. Some of that allocation will be used for a rapid transit network on the Trent Arc between Nottingham and Derby. Between the two cities, the Freeport, Infinity Park Investment Zone and Ratcliffe-on-Soar will also benefit from the improved bus services. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's newly announced commitment towards bus franchising has been boosted by £350 million in funding as part of that region's allocation. The funding for West Yorkshire will help build new bus stations in Bradford and Wakefield. Likewise, the Tees Valley Mayoral Authority will put its sum towards a new £15 million bus station in Middlesbrough. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says: "Today marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands – opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life as we deliver our Plan for Change. "For too long, people in the North and Midlands have been locked out of the investment they deserve. With £15.6bn of government investment, we’re giving local leaders the means to drive cities, towns and communities forward, investing in Britain’s renewal so you and your family are better off."
TfGM’s all-electric bus plan boosted by new £15.6 billion package
Bus Electric News Politics Top Story
Local Transport Minister opens First Bus electric depot in Hengrove
Local Transport Minister opens First Bus electric depot in Hengrove
Bus
Contract pricing conundrum for coach and bus
Contract pricing conundrum: Unlikely to get easier any time soon
Editor's Comment
- Advertisement -
-

routeone magazine is the indispensable resource for professional UK coach, bus and minibus operators. The home of vehicle sales and the latest bus and coach job vacancies, routeone connects professional PCV operators with complete and unrivalled news coverage.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • GDPR Policy
  • Sustainability
  • Advertise
  • Latest Issue
  • Share Your News
routeonerouteone
Follow US
© 2024 routeone News | Powered by Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd