Government strategy needed to protect rural buses

Baroness Randerson writes in the parliamentary magazine This House to argue that a government strategy is needed to support council funding and increase passenger numbers on rural bus services.

She argues that deregulation of the bus industry in the 1980s did not increase competition as it intended to. Decline in use has since occurred despite the Government funding over 40 per cent of the costs of bus services.

Randerson says that we must encourage young people to use the bus and says that if rural buses are to survive, then the model of provision needs to change to fit the expectations of 21st century passengers.

She argues that coordinated timetabling, readily available information via apps, and comfortable buses with charging points and wifi would start to tackle the problems and that coordination between bus operators, greater use of community transport, and demand-responsive transport for the most rural areas are just some other solutions.

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? PoliticsHome.com- Baroness Randerson: A clear government strategy is needed for rural bus services to survive