Bus operators had warned of significant cuts to services if the government stuck to its plan to end emergency funding on April 5

 
Grant Shapps: this funding will also help authorities and operators work together to provide even better services for people right across the country

 
Bus and light rail operators in England will share a final £150m tranche of pandemic-related support from the government, ensuring services continue to run and millions of passengers can continue to get around as the country emerges from the pandemic.

The funding package announced today by the Department for Transport builds on almost two years’ worth of government support to keep bus and light rail networks running, with around £2bn made available to over 160 operators during the pandemic.

This latest and final tranche will run for six months until October 2022.

Bus operators had warned that they could be forced to axe up to 30% of their services if emergency revenue support ended on April 5 because they are only carrying 70% of pre-Covid patronage. The deadline for notifying traffic commissioners of these cuts so that they can be implemented from that date is today.

Bus operators, metro mayors and other stakeholders argued that such a large and unprecedented loss of vital sustainable transport links would undermine the government’s ambitions on net zero and levelling up.

Having heeded these warnings, the DfT says that the new tranche of funding will support operators and authorities as they adapt to changing travel patterns. It also claims that the money will help with the continued delivery of Enhanced Partnerships and support local authorities and operators across as they continue working on Bus Service Improvement Plans.

The funding I’ve announced today will ensure millions of us can continue to use vital public transport services and brings the total we’ve provided to the sector to keep services running throughout the pandemic to over £2bn

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “The funding I’ve announced today will ensure millions of us can continue to use vital public transport services and brings the total we’ve provided to the sector to keep services running throughout the pandemic to over £2bn.

“Not only that – as we look ahead and continue our work to overhaul services and build back better from the pandemic, this funding will also help authorities and operators work together to provide even better services for people right across the country.

“The government is investing over £3bn in bus services by 2025, including £1.2bn to improve fares, services and infrastructure, and a further £525m for zero emission buses.”

This welcome funding will help operators have the certainty they need to run an extensive network of services over the coming months as we all adjust to life after the pandemic

Confederation of Passenger Transport chief executive Graham Vidler said: “This welcome funding will help operators have the certainty they need to run an extensive network of services over the coming months as we all adjust to life after the pandemic.

“In the longer term, the bus network will need to adapt to meet passengers’ new travel patterns. Over the coming months, operators will be working closely with local authorities to plan future bus networks and introduce plans to grow passenger numbers. To aid these local efforts we look forward to working with the government to loudly promote bus travel.”

This is good news for buses and the communities which rely on them and should help prevent the large-scale cuts to services we feared

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We are grateful the Government heeded our calls to continue supporting bus services until passenger numbers can begin to recover. This is good news for buses and the communities which rely on them and should help prevent the large-scale cuts to services we feared. We now want to see a government-led campaign to boost people’s confidence to leave their cars at home and get back on board public transport so that buses can start to fund themselves once again.”

The funding is “dependent on local areas and operators co-designing a financially sustainable and passenger-focused public transport network, that works for changing travel patterns post-pandemic”.

The DfT said that more details on the allocation of this funding will be provided in due course.

 
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