A new Transport Committee report, Buses Connecting Communities, is calling on the Government to reform the way local bus services are funded and to adopt a national ambition for a minimum level of public transport connectivity. This would protect residents in England’s towns and villages from becoming increasingly isolated, MPs say. 

The last decade has seen bus routes and service frequencies diminish in many parts of the country, directly in tandem with a drop in ridership.  

Department for Transport (DfT) data shows that the number of bus journeys taken in England outside of London fell from 4.6 billion in 2009 to 3.6 billion in 2024, a reduction of 21.7%. The County Councils Network reported that, between 2019 and 2024, bus services decreased by 18% on average in areas covered by county and unitary councils. The countryside charity CPRE told the Committee that 56% of small towns were in a “transport desert”. 

According to the Health Foundation, public funding for bus services fell from 2009/2010 for a decade until the Covid pandemic saw funding levels almost double to keep them going. Then in 2023/24 the public subsidy returned to a similar level as in 2017/18. 

Despite this period of decline, buses remain the most-used form of public transport in the country. 

The Government now seeks to turn the sector’s poor fortunes around with provisions in its Bus (No.2) Services Bill. The legislation aims to: make it easier for more councils to set up franchised services, like those used in Manchester and London; to support collaborations between private bus firms and councils under Enhanced Partnerships; and to provide a definition of and require local authorities to list ‘socially necessary services’. 

Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury MP said: 

“Buses are fundamental to many people’s quality of life. Without them, residents on low incomes, older and younger people, face social exclusion or being cut off from employment and services like hospitals or education. In many areas that is tragically already the case. 

“The DfT should change the way funding is provided to ensure councils and bus firms would be committed to running socially necessary services, and, on that basis, should also adopt an ambition for all councils to develop and maintain a minimum level of public transport connectivity. To achieve this the sector will need greater financial certainty, which is why we say the Government should announce funding in five-year blocks.”

The full report can be accessed HERE.

(Pic: Yay Images)