Bus travel trapped in expensive cycle

I news reports on research showing that bus travel costs are rising faster than the cost of driving, discouraging passengers from travelling by public transport.

Statistics from the Department for Transport found that 4.31 billion local bus journeys were made in the year ending September 2018, a 2.1 per cent decrease on the previous year.

Michael Waterson, an economics professor at the University of Warwick, noted that this is despite people travelling more.

He said that a drop in the number of users has meant that those who continue to use services are forced to shoulder the costs. He added: ‘Buses tend to be used more intensely by people who do not have alternatives, and those who are on relatively low incomes, so there is a clear distributional issue.’ According to Waterson, urban bus services are more affected by ‘declining patronage on commercial routes’ whilst ‘rural services are differentially affected by cuts to subsidies’.

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