The UK government was slower than several of its European counterparts to realise it. But making public transport cheaper is a good policy that can be expected to deliver multiple benefits. The announcement earlier this week that bus companies in England will be subsidised to cap local fares at £2 for three months, from January to March, is very welcome. It should make life a bit easier for the millions of people who rely on buses to travel to work and for other journeys. Many of them are facing a painful squeeze on their finances due to rising fuel and food prices.
If the subsidy persuades people to travel by bus instead of by car, as ministers hope and expect, it will also have a beneficial effect on the environment. Car journeys are a hugely significant source of carbon emissions and localised air pollution, with 91% of the UK’s total transport emissions coming from roads. When more people use buses and bicycles, rather than cars, congestion and journey times are reduced. With single bus fares as high as £5 in some rural areas, people have been strongly incentivised to use cars, particularly when travelling in groups. Change in this destructive state of affairs is long overdue. If energy costs have forced ministers to act, it is better late than never. Reduced demand for petrol could also contribute to lowering inflation.
For more than 30 years, since the bus service was privatised, London was the only place in England with regulated fares – a grossly unfair situation since people living elsewhere have the same need to move around at an affordable price. Imposing similar arrangements elsewhere should have been a no-brainer for a government committed to levelling up. But it was the Labour mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire who acted first. All three areas already have the £2 cap now being introduced nationally. In July, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, won a judicial review, meaning that his plan for an integrated local transport system similar to that run by Transport for London is expected to go ahead.
In Europe, discounted travel schemes were available this year on state-owned rail as well as bus services. Unfortunately, in Britain rail fares went up for inadequate services.
Germany’s three-month experiment with €9 tickets was credited with saving about 1.8m tonnes of CO2 emissions. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, has the most radical scheme of all. There, all public transport has been free to residents since 2013.
Past policy failures have left Britons more exposed than they needed to be to the current energy crisis. Had ministers more actively promoted a shift away from fossil-fuel-intensive transport and heating towards more sustainable energy sources and insulation, households would now be less vulnerable and more secure. But the £60m being spent on making buses cheaper will be money well spent.
