Cuts to bus provisions in deprived areas fly in the face of common sense

It’s shocking that cuts to bus provision between 2011 and 2023 were 10 times higher in England’s most deprived than its least deprived areas.

It is hard to understand how cutting buses in the most deprived areas makes sense. People there are less likely to own cars and therefore more likely to rely on bus services.

Annual bus miles driven per head in England fell from 25 to 18 miles between 2011 and 2023. This is at a time when the country should be encouraging more people to move away from cars to help tackle climate change.

An estimated 1.1 billion extra miles were driven in cars and taxis in 2023 alone, undermining any drive towards net zero.

There is no social mobility without transport mobility and what these findings show is that people from deprived areas are being denied access to opportunities as a result of cuts to bus provisions.

The economy is £2.6bn smaller, with 39,000 fewer jobs, thanks to a drop in the economic contribution of buses. There is light on the horizon when it comes to bus provisions in the region. The Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin is bringing buses back under public control.

Franchising is already working in Manchester so there’s no reason why, if delivered effectively, parts of Yorkshire cannot benefit. The current system is simply not delivering. Only a couple of days ago Arriva’s cuts to bus services in West Yorkshire came into effect.

The £2 bus fare cap showed just how popular buses can be and the economic benefits are evident.