Picking up on last week’s news item, we take a more in-depth look at the contents of the National Audit Office’s recent report in bus services in England since 2019
As mentioned in last week’s news pages, the National Audit Office has released a report detailing the state of England’s bus services outside London which highlights the need for long-term solutions as the industry rebuilds from the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report was welcomed by many, with Bus Users UK expressing concern that services are underperforming for many users, whilst CPT Chief Executive Graham Vidler added balance by pointing out that in many areas, operators work hand-in-hand with central and local government and where they have delivered growth with new routes, zero-emission buses and more frequent services underpinned by a level of public investment still seen as low by pan-European standards.
Graham also agreed with the findings that increasing traffic congestion, the pandemic and a decline in public funding have damaged growth in bus travel over a sustained period. Delving deeper into the report, the National Audit Office’s figures tell us that 50% of bus sector revenue came from public funding in 2023-24, whilst there was a 15% reduction in bus services outside London, measured in kilometres travelled, when comparing the period 2019-20 and 2023-24. It adds that an estimated 2,799 zero-emission buses part-funded by DfT had been introduced by 2025, and 13 separate DfT grants have been used to fund buses.
Looking to the future, the National Audit Office’s figures highlight projected costs in the region of £13 million to £22 million, according to the DfT’s estimates, for the transition to franchising for a local transport authority, depending on its size and assuming it fully franchises its network. Interestingly, 46% of local transport authorities in 2023 rated their capacity to deliver local transport as very or fairly poor.
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