Press Story

Britain's bus passengers have been let down by a lack of competition and a failure of deregulation, according to a new report from the think tank IPPR, published today. The report calls for local transport authorities modelled on Transport for London to be rolled out across the country, with stronger powers to introduce London-style bus regulation.

The new report shows that one in eight people working in Britain rely on the bus to get to work. It shows that people make more than three times as many bus journeys as rail journeys, over 5 billion each year.

The report says that the poorest make more than three times as many trips per year by bus than the richest. It shows that while car ownership is nearly universal among richest half of the population, only 30 per cent of households in the poorest income decile own a car. Poorer groups are therefore reliant on poor bus services or have to rely on taxis. The report shows that the poorest fifth of households take more taxi journeys per year than any other income group.

The report shows that 37 per cent of weekly services outside London do not face any effective head-to head-competition and just 1 per cent of weekly services face effective head-to-head competition over all or most of their route. It argues that liberalisation has not resulted in a competitive market. The report shows that bus fares in England (outside London) rose by 35 per cent above inflation between 1995 and 2013, and by 34 per cent in Wales and 20 per cent in Scotland over the same period.

Over the last 30 years, bus passenger journeys have fallen outside London but grown in the capital. The report shows that overall bus use outside London fell by 32.5 per cent since 1986, while rising by 99 per cent in London.

The report recommends the creation of local transport bodies modelled on Transport for London at the level of city-regions and combined authorities. They should have a remit to take on the delivery of transport policy, including the regulation and contracting of bus markets where the private sector is failing to deliver an adequate service. The report argues that this would allow for better services, quality and fare levels and allow for greater integration of transport services.

Will Straw, IPPR Associate Director, said:

"London has the best buses in Britain and that's no accident. Transport for London has been a great success while the deregulation of buses outside London has largely failed. Outside London, bus passenger journeys are down and fares are rising higher than inflation. Examples of successful bus markets outside London are all too rare so local transport bodies should be given greater powers to hold uncompetitive providers to account.

"As well as regulating bus services, routes and fares, these new bodies should have a wider role of encouraging better integration between buses and other modes of transport including rail. This will help increase the number of passengers using public transport. Responsibility for transport related to schools and hospitals should be devolved to these regional transport bodies with any savings made from achieving efficiencies retained and reinvested in other local sustainable transport projects."

Notes to Editors

IPPR's new report – Greasing the wheels: supporting and improving Britain's rail and bus services – will be available from Tuesday 26 August at: http://www.ippr.org/publications/greasing-the-wheels-supporting-and-improving-britain's-rail-and-bus-services

Contacts

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org

Sofie Jenkinson, 07981023031, s.jenkinson@ippr.org