Why we should not get too hung up on bus regulation in Yorkshire - Graham Vidler

The debate around buses, however, tends to get stuck on a single issue – who’s in charge. And it’s often framed around an unhelpful opposition of public against private. The truth is that a number of levers can be pulled to boost our buses – irrespective of the regulatory model.

Let’s start by busting a myth. It is true that the number of bus journeys has declined over the last two decades – from 345 million in Yorkshire and Humberside in 2014 to around 240 million last year. But it is misleading to blame this on the deregulation of buses, which happened in the 1980s, or on competition between private sector operators.

There are two key reasons for a drop in journeys by bus. One is worsening traffic congestion in our towns and cities, which has slowed journeys and made buses less attractive. The other is that post-pandemic, there are simply fewer people travelling to the shops and to work than there were five years ago – and fewer people travelling means fewer people using the bus.

Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, is heading down the route of franchising buses, putting routes, fares and frequencies under a single point of control. Oliver Coppard, in South Yorkshire, is consulting on a similar proposal, while North Yorkshire’s David Skaith is considering his options.

It is sometimes assumed that the franchising route will automatically lead to improvement. But franchising isn’t a silver bullet. Different regulatory models will work in different areas. And there are clear opportunities to improve bus services which can be achieved with or without local authority control.

The first, and most important, step is to improve bus priority and devote more road space to buses. Many of Europe’s major cities have 24/7 bus lanes on major roads, with junctions and traffic lights cleverly designed to give priority to public transport. Those are, unfortunately, still the exception rather than the rule in Yorkshire.

Modelling by the Confederation of Passenger Transport suggests that speeding up buses by 10 per cent typically increases passenger numbers by 2.5 per cent - which would be equivalent to six million extra journeys a year in Yorkshire. Crucially, it would also cut the cost of running buses by 8 per cent, creating a virtuous circle of investment in new vehicles and more frequent services.

Secondly, while cars are a logical choice for certain journeys, there are ways to make them less of a default option. Congestion charging in busy towns and cities can encourage people to leave their cars at home, or to opt for ‘park and ride’ schemes.

Workplace parking levies are another tool: nothing incentivises driving more than unlimited free parking at the office. Local authorities have the power, if they choose, to charge employers for parking spaces provided to their employees, with the proceeds invested in better public transport.

Finally, bus services need long-term funding, whoever is in charge. The money to run a bus comes from several sources. The majority is from fares paid by passengers. Some comes from central Government schemes – such as the £3 fare cap, and from grants paid to bus operators to help meet fuel costs. And for socially important, but unprofitable routes, a subsidy comes from the local council.

Since the pandemic, public funding has become less and less predictable, often granted over months rather than years, making it difficult for bus companies to invest in long-term improvements. There is a powerful case to invest more – every pound invested in buses brings £4.55 of benefits to the environment, to public health and to communities.

I want our region to have the most progressive transport policies possible, and to put clean air, and affordable public transport, at the forefront. The city where I live, York, has good public transport and has been an innovator – for example, it has introduced computer modelling to manage its road network, using big data to predict traffic flows and to adjust traffic lights to suit conditions.

Each double-decker bus deployed on the road can take 75 cars off the road, cutting both congestion and pollution.

It is fantastic that Yorkshire’s mayors have big ambitions for buses. We all share the goal of frequent, reliable, affordable services. But let’s not get too hung up on regulation. Whatever the chosen structure, achieving improvements will require a partnership between the public and private sector, bold policies to change travel habits and hard cash.

Graham Vidler is the chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport.