2021 "Bus Revolution" launched
2021 "Bus Revolution" launched
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (15 March 2021) unveils the most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation, which will see lower, simpler flat fares in towns and cities, turn-up-and-go services on main routes, and new flexible services to reconnect communities.
The government’s new bus strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, will see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services.
Levelling up services across the country will encourage more people to use the bus, rather than the car, as we build back better from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The changes include:
simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs
more services in the evenings and at the weekends
integrated services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train
all buses to accept contactless payments
Hundreds of miles of new bus lanes will make journeys quicker and more reliable, getting people out of their cars, reducing pollution and operating costs.
The Prime Minister’s ten point plan sets out how we will accelerate the transition to greener and more sustainable transport.
We will:
deliver 4,000 new British-built electric or hydrogen buses will provide clean, quiet, zero-emission travel
transition cities and regions across England to emission-free buses, safeguarding the UK bus manufacturing industry
end sales of new diesel buses, and we have launched a consultation on the end date today.
We expect to see local authorities and operators working together to deliver bus services that are so frequent that passengers can just ‘turn up and go’ – no longer needing to rely on a traditional timetable and having the confidence they won’t wait more than a few minutes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
Buses are lifelines and liberators, connecting people to jobs they couldn’t otherwise take, driving pensioners and young people to see their friends, sustaining town centres and protecting the environment.
As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our first acts of levelling-up.
Just as they did in London, our reforms will make buses the transport of choice, reducing the number of car journeys and improving quality of life for millions.
The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end. We want to see operators and local councils enter into a statutory “enhanced partnership” or franchising agreements to receive the new funding and deliver the improvements.
It is expected that many councils will choose enhanced partnerships, where local authorities work closely with bus companies, drawing on their operating knowledge and marketing skills. Others may decide that franchising works better for them.
Because of the decline in use caused by the pandemic, bus operators have already received significant emergency support from the government. From this summer, only services under these arrangements will be eligible for continued support or any new sources of funding from the £3 billion transformational investment. The government will also consult later this year on reforming the Bus Service Operators Grant – the current main stream of government bus funding – to achieve the same objectives.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, said:
Buses are this country’s favourite way of getting around. They help us get to school, to the GP, or to the shops – but services across England are patchy, and it’s frankly not good enough.
The quality of bus service you receive shouldn’t be dependent on where you live. Everyone deserves to have access to cheap, reliable and quick bus journeys.
The strategy we’re unveiling today will completely overhaul services, ensuring we build back better from the pandemic. Key to it is the new deal it offers to councils – we will provide unprecedented funding, but we need councils to work closely with operators, and the government, to develop the services of the future.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
Buses are the backbone of public transport in the West Midlands, carrying more than 250 million people every year. Today’s strategy is therefore very welcome, and will enable big city regions such as ours to ensure buses remain at the heart of our future transport plans. Residents here want clean, decarbonised buses that are affordable and continue to remain reliable and punctual, and that’s what the new strategy laid out today will deliver.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said:
For bus passengers, today’s announcement of more frequent buses and simpler fares will be welcome news. For many, buses are a lifeline to employment, education, medical appointments and leisure, and are essential to the economy. We know that the key priorities for those considering using the bus are more services running more reliably, providing better value.
Since the pandemic, safety and cleanliness have become ever more important. We will work with bus operators and other partners to make sure passengers’ needs are at the heart of new arrangements.
It also sets out ambitions to provide greater access to bus services for all, with plans revealed to require ‘next stop’ announcements onboard buses throughout Great Britain, helping disabled passengers and others to travel with confidence. The government will also launch a consultation on new regulations to improve access onboard buses for wheelchair users.
London-style services aren’t appropriate for all rural and suburban areas, which is why the Department for Transport is today also announcing the recipients of the £20 million from the government’s ‘Rural mobility fund’, which enables on-demand services – such as minibuses booked via an app – to be trialled in areas where a traditional bus service isn’t appropriate.
Prime Minister launches £3 billion bus revolution
Bus strategy to see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, reliable, easier to use and cheaper bus services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime...revolution
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (15 March 2021) unveils the most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation, which will see lower, simpler flat fares in towns and cities, turn-up-and-go services on main routes, and new flexible services to reconnect communities.
The government’s new bus strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, will see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services.
Levelling up services across the country will encourage more people to use the bus, rather than the car, as we build back better from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The changes include:
simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs
more services in the evenings and at the weekends
integrated services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train
all buses to accept contactless payments
Hundreds of miles of new bus lanes will make journeys quicker and more reliable, getting people out of their cars, reducing pollution and operating costs.
The Prime Minister’s ten point plan sets out how we will accelerate the transition to greener and more sustainable transport.
We will:
deliver 4,000 new British-built electric or hydrogen buses will provide clean, quiet, zero-emission travel
transition cities and regions across England to emission-free buses, safeguarding the UK bus manufacturing industry
end sales of new diesel buses, and we have launched a consultation on the end date today.
We expect to see local authorities and operators working together to deliver bus services that are so frequent that passengers can just ‘turn up and go’ – no longer needing to rely on a traditional timetable and having the confidence they won’t wait more than a few minutes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
Buses are lifelines and liberators, connecting people to jobs they couldn’t otherwise take, driving pensioners and young people to see their friends, sustaining town centres and protecting the environment.
As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our first acts of levelling-up.
Just as they did in London, our reforms will make buses the transport of choice, reducing the number of car journeys and improving quality of life for millions.
The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end. We want to see operators and local councils enter into a statutory “enhanced partnership” or franchising agreements to receive the new funding and deliver the improvements.
It is expected that many councils will choose enhanced partnerships, where local authorities work closely with bus companies, drawing on their operating knowledge and marketing skills. Others may decide that franchising works better for them.
Because of the decline in use caused by the pandemic, bus operators have already received significant emergency support from the government. From this summer, only services under these arrangements will be eligible for continued support or any new sources of funding from the £3 billion transformational investment. The government will also consult later this year on reforming the Bus Service Operators Grant – the current main stream of government bus funding – to achieve the same objectives.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, said:
Buses are this country’s favourite way of getting around. They help us get to school, to the GP, or to the shops – but services across England are patchy, and it’s frankly not good enough.
The quality of bus service you receive shouldn’t be dependent on where you live. Everyone deserves to have access to cheap, reliable and quick bus journeys.
The strategy we’re unveiling today will completely overhaul services, ensuring we build back better from the pandemic. Key to it is the new deal it offers to councils – we will provide unprecedented funding, but we need councils to work closely with operators, and the government, to develop the services of the future.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
Buses are the backbone of public transport in the West Midlands, carrying more than 250 million people every year. Today’s strategy is therefore very welcome, and will enable big city regions such as ours to ensure buses remain at the heart of our future transport plans. Residents here want clean, decarbonised buses that are affordable and continue to remain reliable and punctual, and that’s what the new strategy laid out today will deliver.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said:
For bus passengers, today’s announcement of more frequent buses and simpler fares will be welcome news. For many, buses are a lifeline to employment, education, medical appointments and leisure, and are essential to the economy. We know that the key priorities for those considering using the bus are more services running more reliably, providing better value.
Since the pandemic, safety and cleanliness have become ever more important. We will work with bus operators and other partners to make sure passengers’ needs are at the heart of new arrangements.
It also sets out ambitions to provide greater access to bus services for all, with plans revealed to require ‘next stop’ announcements onboard buses throughout Great Britain, helping disabled passengers and others to travel with confidence. The government will also launch a consultation on new regulations to improve access onboard buses for wheelchair users.
London-style services aren’t appropriate for all rural and suburban areas, which is why the Department for Transport is today also announcing the recipients of the £20 million from the government’s ‘Rural mobility fund’, which enables on-demand services – such as minibuses booked via an app – to be trialled in areas where a traditional bus service isn’t appropriate.
Following on from the discussion yesterday in the Nexus tenders thread, I notice that Shapps has put out a range of tweets including this: https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1...59269?s=20
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(15 Mar 2021, 9:54 am)Adrian Prime Minister launches £3 billion bus revolution
Bus strategy to see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, reliable, easier to use and cheaper bus services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime...revolution
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end.
(15 Mar 2021, 9:54 am)Adrian Prime Minister launches £3 billion bus revolution
Bus strategy to see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, reliable, easier to use and cheaper bus services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime...revolution
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end.
(15 Mar 2021, 9:54 am)Adrian Prime Minister launches £3 billion bus revolution
Bus strategy to see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, reliable, easier to use and cheaper bus services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime...revolution
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
(15 Mar 2021, 9:54 am)Adrian Prime Minister launches £3 billion bus revolution
Bus strategy to see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, reliable, easier to use and cheaper bus services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime...revolution
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
(15 Mar 2021, 10:25 am)streetdeckfan Hang on, are we sure we actually voted in the Tories?
I wonder what this will mean for the operators round here, no doubt NEXUS will pounce on the offer to basically have control of all of the buses (and promptly ruin them), Durham Council will probably do sod all like usual.
Great to see it looks like they're making NSA mandatory!
(15 Mar 2021, 10:25 am)streetdeckfan Hang on, are we sure we actually voted in the Tories?
I wonder what this will mean for the operators round here, no doubt NEXUS will pounce on the offer to basically have control of all of the buses (and promptly ruin them), Durham Council will probably do sod all like usual.
Great to see it looks like they're making NSA mandatory!
(15 Mar 2021, 10:53 am)mb134 Friend linked me the Daily Heil comments for this. Christ, I forget how backward half this country is.
It seems like they're wanting everything "turn up and go", so I can only assume they've looked at big cities then forgot the rest of the country exists. Areas where a DRT service won't be good enough, but where a bus every 5 minutes would be overkill and run the bus companies/councils into the ground within about a day. I'm welcoming of the plan as a whole but the Tories really need to learn how to temper expectations, how long until these are "world beating buses" much like our "world beating" track and trace...
(15 Mar 2021, 10:53 am)mb134 Friend linked me the Daily Heil comments for this. Christ, I forget how backward half this country is.
It seems like they're wanting everything "turn up and go", so I can only assume they've looked at big cities then forgot the rest of the country exists. Areas where a DRT service won't be good enough, but where a bus every 5 minutes would be overkill and run the bus companies/councils into the ground within about a day. I'm welcoming of the plan as a whole but the Tories really need to learn how to temper expectations, how long until these are "world beating buses" much like our "world beating" track and trace...
(15 Mar 2021, 10:15 am)Andreos1 So much in there to digest, but for me
"The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end."
(15 Mar 2021, 10:15 am)Andreos1 So much in there to digest, but for me
"The fragmented, fully commercialised market, which has operated outside London since 1986 will end."
According to BBC News, The Government are spending money to implement new bus lanes, are there any places that would need this up here
There’s so much to take in & to be clarified but the enforced quality partnerships need to have a nationally mandated framework. I don’t see why a council with a poor track record of supporting buses (Hi, Hartlepool) would be any more motivated to support buses under this arrangement. What would prevent the operator and the council agreeing to *reduce* services to save costs?
As for cross boundary services, it could be messy to get every local authority in which the X9/10/11 operate to agree.
(15 Mar 2021, 12:54 pm)James101 There’s so much to take in & to be clarified but the enforced quality partnerships need to have a nationally mandated framework. I don’t see why a council with a poor track record of supporting buses (Hi, Hartlepool) would be any more motivated to support buses under this arrangement. What would prevent the operator and the council agreeing to *reduce* services to save costs?
As for cross boundary services, it could be messy to get every local authority in which the X9/10/11 operate to agree.
(15 Mar 2021, 12:54 pm)James101 There’s so much to take in & to be clarified but the enforced quality partnerships need to have a nationally mandated framework. I don’t see why a council with a poor track record of supporting buses (Hi, Hartlepool) would be any more motivated to support buses under this arrangement. What would prevent the operator and the council agreeing to *reduce* services to save costs?
As for cross boundary services, it could be messy to get every local authority in which the X9/10/11 operate to agree.
Is there any elections happening soon...? Or something that needs distracting from...?
Pie in the sky as always from the Tories but Joe Public don't know it's going to be dumped on the "too complicated" pile and eventually forgotten about. Bit like the tunnels under the Irish Sea.
(15 Mar 2021, 1:20 pm)omnicity4659 Is there any elections happening soon...? Or something that needs distracting from...?
Pie in the sky as always from the Tories but Joe Public don't know it's going to be dumped on the "too complicated" pile and eventually forgotten about. Bit like the tunnels under the Irish Sea.
(15 Mar 2021, 1:20 pm)omnicity4659 Is there any elections happening soon...? Or something that needs distracting from...?
Pie in the sky as always from the Tories but Joe Public don't know it's going to be dumped on the "too complicated" pile and eventually forgotten about. Bit like the tunnels under the Irish Sea.
Just to counter something written earlier. I’m old enough to remember integrated transport ran by the PTE. Happy to return to that. Go North East will defo resist. They will be forced to offer a good service , and not keep chopping and changing every few months. Remind me , how do I get a GNE bus to Hartlepool ? Is it the 230, or x35, or x5, or 55 or 55A? Oh balls, it’s been scrapped.
(15 Mar 2021, 11:32 am)streetdeckfan I'd definitely consider myself a Conservative, but I wouldn't dream of reading that shite. Then again, I'm one of the few people that actually reads a variety of sources (of different political leanings) before believing any of it.
For 99% of journeys, a 30 minute frequency is good enough. The only reason you would want a higher frequency is for the extra capacity (and in some cases in order to make connections with other services viable).
(15 Mar 2021, 11:32 am)streetdeckfan I'd definitely consider myself a Conservative, but I wouldn't dream of reading that shite. Then again, I'm one of the few people that actually reads a variety of sources (of different political leanings) before believing any of it.
For 99% of journeys, a 30 minute frequency is good enough. The only reason you would want a higher frequency is for the extra capacity (and in some cases in order to make connections with other services viable).
(15 Mar 2021, 2:17 pm)Economic505 Just to counter something written earlier. I’m old enough to remember integrated transport ran by the PTE. Happy to return to that. Go North East will defo resist. They will be forced to offer a good service , and not keep chopping and changing every few months. Remind me , how do I get a GNE bus to Hartlepool ? Is it the 230, or x35, or x5, or 55 or 55A? Oh balls, it’s been scrapped.It actually looks like most operators, including Go North East and Stagecoach, have spoken out in favour of this.
(15 Mar 2021, 2:17 pm)Economic505 Just to counter something written earlier. I’m old enough to remember integrated transport ran by the PTE. Happy to return to that. Go North East will defo resist. They will be forced to offer a good service , and not keep chopping and changing every few months. Remind me , how do I get a GNE bus to Hartlepool ? Is it the 230, or x35, or x5, or 55 or 55A? Oh balls, it’s been scrapped.It actually looks like most operators, including Go North East and Stagecoach, have spoken out in favour of this.
(15 Mar 2021, 2:23 pm)mb134 The frightening thing is that, for a number of people, that rag is their main source of news. Agreed though, not enough people fact check news before taking the first source as gospel because it aligns with their personal beliefs (which, often, wouldn't be their personal beliefs if they'd bothered to actually do some reading once in a while).
I find 20 to be the sweet spot myself, majority of routes that aren't wholly in a city don't need more than that on the whole. As soon as you start taking it down, especially if you want a clockface timetable, you then have half hourly or hourly. Half hourly for me is a tricky one, on one hand those services don't tend to deserve an increase in frequency, though at the same time I find that service frequency will put people off using it for their commute, for example, as if they miss one it's an awful long wait on a cold morning. Same thing with hourly - on current (pre-Covid) loadings there's not a chance in hell I'd suggest something like ANEs 57 should be more than hourly, yet if it was would those in Ashington/Bedlington be more likely to use it to get to work in Cramlington, or those in Delaval more likely to use it to Whitley Bay? It's ultimately a balancing act, which is why I think this statement from Boris quite irresponsible, between being attractive enough for punters and making enough money to keep the wheels turning. With every 20 minutes, you generally find that there are other reasonably frequent services on those same corridors, leading to an increased confidence for passengers that they'll be able to catch a bus easily, resulting in healthy passenger numbers.
(15 Mar 2021, 3:14 pm)Adrian It actually looks like most operators, including Go North East and Stagecoach, have spoken out in favour of this.
https://twitter.com/gonortheast/status/1...74914?s=19
https://otp.investis.com/generic/regulat...px?cid=273&newsid=1460855
I was a bit surprised by the latter, so I'd be interested to see the finer detail and how the benefits for customers stack up vs benefits for operators.
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(15 Mar 2021, 2:23 pm)mb134 The frightening thing is that, for a number of people, that rag is their main source of news. Agreed though, not enough people fact check news before taking the first source as gospel because it aligns with their personal beliefs (which, often, wouldn't be their personal beliefs if they'd bothered to actually do some reading once in a while).
I find 20 to be the sweet spot myself, majority of routes that aren't wholly in a city don't need more than that on the whole. As soon as you start taking it down, especially if you want a clockface timetable, you then have half hourly or hourly. Half hourly for me is a tricky one, on one hand those services don't tend to deserve an increase in frequency, though at the same time I find that service frequency will put people off using it for their commute, for example, as if they miss one it's an awful long wait on a cold morning. Same thing with hourly - on current (pre-Covid) loadings there's not a chance in hell I'd suggest something like ANEs 57 should be more than hourly, yet if it was would those in Ashington/Bedlington be more likely to use it to get to work in Cramlington, or those in Delaval more likely to use it to Whitley Bay? It's ultimately a balancing act, which is why I think this statement from Boris quite irresponsible, between being attractive enough for punters and making enough money to keep the wheels turning. With every 20 minutes, you generally find that there are other reasonably frequent services on those same corridors, leading to an increased confidence for passengers that they'll be able to catch a bus easily, resulting in healthy passenger numbers.
(15 Mar 2021, 3:14 pm)Adrian It actually looks like most operators, including Go North East and Stagecoach, have spoken out in favour of this.
https://twitter.com/gonortheast/status/1...74914?s=19
https://otp.investis.com/generic/regulat...px?cid=273&newsid=1460855
I was a bit surprised by the latter, so I'd be interested to see the finer detail and how the benefits for customers stack up vs benefits for operators.
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Not surprised the operators are speaking out in favour - less commercial risk for them. We're not going to see a return to pre COVID levels for sometime and that will put a strain on the coffers.
Franchising and local control is seen as some big evil and it worked for a long long time up here with the PTE and it worked really well. The concern of course would be Gannon and Co and Nexus being in charge of the implementation. Just look at the utter farce that is the lack of regionwide smart cards or contactless.
None of it really addresses the age old problem of tempting car users out of their cars (and away from taxis) onto buses but it's a start.
I'd love to know who this re-incarnation of "bus bill" this is aimed at? It's clearly not at the humble car user, rather people who don't already have cars. I'd have thought these are the sort of people who would be using the bus regardless of these initiatives...
There's zero pull factors to convert, and there's surely no push factors from automobile manufacturers the other way. The system needs a full re-envisagement top to bottom.
I'm also struggling to think who is paying for all of this. Sounds like mystical magic money trees again. Are we going to pay by an increase in fare? Or by increase in taxation on top of all of the covid drama. 10 years to late to me. All of this (bar contactless) could have been done before. Buses have had GPS tracking for as long as I can remember, "smartphones" have been popular for at least 15 years. Bus lanes are habitually ignored due to traffic levels and just as it's human nature. People park wherever they want.
It's a sorry state of affairs that is a catch-22 to break.
(15 Mar 2021, 3:40 pm)Ambassador Not surprised the operators are speaking out in favour - less commercial risk for them. We're not going to see a return to pre COVID levels for sometime and that will put a strain on the coffers.
(15 Mar 2021, 3:40 pm)Ambassador Not surprised the operators are speaking out in favour - less commercial risk for them. We're not going to see a return to pre COVID levels for sometime and that will put a strain on the coffers.
