Whitehead calls for re-regulation of bus services
23rd April 2007
Dr Whitehead is today highlighting the continued importance of public transport in Southampton, as shown by the nearly 600 people who replied to Dr Whitehead’s recent survey on bus services in the city.
The transport survey asked people how often they used Southampton buses, what problems they experienced with current services and what changes they would like to see in the new Transport Bill, due to be published later this year.
A clear majority of survey respondents said they would support government measures to make bus companies co-ordinate more effectively. 86% said they would favour the introduction of an interchangeable ‘oyster card’ for Southampton buses and trains, and 71% said they supported local authorities getting greater powers to regulate bus services.
Dr Whitehead is campaigning in Parliament for local authorities to be given the power to introduce ‘smart’ travel cards similar to London’s ‘Oyster Card.’ The smart card would use similar technology as used by the new City Clipper smart card, the key difference being that commuters could use the cards to pay for travel on any local bus, train or ferry service, ending the current practice of buying a ticket from, for example, First and being unable to use it with Blue Line or Uni-Link.
Dr Whitehead is also lobbying Ministers to give local authorities the power to stop bus companies from repeatedly chopping and changing their bus services. Under new regulations expected to form part of the Transport Bill later this year, Southampton could be given the power to set longer term contracts with bus companies, which would require companies to run a spread of highly and less profitable routes across the city. Under the new contracts, bus companies would find it much harder to cancel an unprofitable route on short notice.
Commenting on the survey results, Dr Whitehead said:
“The people who took the time to respond to my survey make a strong collective case for the better regulation of the buses. This is clearly an issue with huge impact on our day to day lives, and yet under current regulations, the public has too little say in what the overall spread of bus services across Southampton looks like. Re-regulation would mean better co-ordination between bus companies and routes staying the same for longer. If we can achieve these aims we could succeed in a real revolution in public transport in Southampton and that is what I will be arguing for when the Bill comes before Parliament.”
More information
- Bus services were largely de-regulated by the Conservatives in 1986. Over the next decade there was a 20% drop in the number of bus users nationwide.
- The Government has increased investment in buses from £1bn in 1997 to £2.5bn now
- Despite the recent year-on-year increase in bus patronage, too many of our communities are still being let down by the standard of their bus services. But where local authorities and bus operators work closely together, bus services tend to be much better
- This is why the government published the following proposals in Putting Passengers First (on 12th December 2006):
- On quality contracts (bus franchising) making it a more realistic option for local authorities to introduce schemes tailored to local needs
- On partnership between local authorities and operators, making it easier for them to make arrangements covering bus frequency, timetables and fares
- On punctuality, increased powers for the Traffic Commissioners to hold both operators and local authorities to account for the performance of local bus services
- On the environment - making sure that current bus subsidies help to support the Government’s environmental objectives
- Giving local community transport a bigger role in providing services in areas poorly served by other transport
