Coalition voices fears over future of bus services
Public transport campaigners have warned of fare rises, cuts to services and thousands of job losses if the Bus Service Operators Grant is scrapped.
Local authorities, bus operators, transport campaigners and unions have written to transport secretary Philip Hammond to warn England’s local bus networks are at risk from ‘Beeching-style cuts’ if the government withdraws the funding as part of the forthcoming spending review.
Formerly known as the Fuel Duty Rebate (FDR), the grant rebates bus operators for the fuel duty they pay in running local registered services and covers many rural, school and socially important services. It is equivalent to a £437m a year investment in buses.
Scrapping the grant could see a 10% fare hike and cuts to routes which would impact on low-income groups hardest, according to the public transport coalition, while thousands of bus driver and manufacturer jobs could be under threat.
Letters have been sent to all 533 MPs in England and an Early Day Motion supporting retention of the grant has been laid down in parliament.
Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said scrapping the grant ‘could do for Britain’s buses today what Beeching did for the UK rail network in the 1960s’.
He added: ‘In many areas, it could tip buses into a spiral of decline with fares rises, falling patronage and service cuts, all with impacts on some of the poorest in society.’
According to the Passenger Transport Executive Group, bus travel is the main form of public transport outside London and is relied upon the most by low-income households.
Shaun Spiers, chief executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, predicted ‘huge’ social, environmental and economic costs to the countryside in the long term.
‘Those unable to drive could be forced to move out of rural areas or face isolation, while those living car-free in towns may be cut off from the countryside,’ he said. ‘Closed pubs and post offices would be joined by derelict bus shelters, the final straw for the vibrancy of many villages.’
Other co-signatories to the letter to MPs include Greenpeace UK, Friends of the Earth, Unite, Community Transport Association and Unison.
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