BUS CUTS DAMAGE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2011 :: RMTnews 11 To Prime Minister David Cameron, We are writing to express serious concern that reductions in local authority support for bus services as a result of funding cuts will have severe negative knock- on impacts for people, communities, the economy and the environment. Campaign for Better Transport has been tracking the cuts and estimates that 70 per cent of local authorities are already looking to buses as an area to make cuts, with some councils planning to lose all their supported bus services and 13 councils reducing support by more than £1 million. These cuts, combined with the reduction in the fuel tax rebate for buses in 2012, could tip buses into a spiral of decline. Two thirds of public transport journeys are made by bus. Cuts in bus services will affect government objectives in a broad range of areas. They will hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. Poorer people are less likely to have a car. Young people need affordable bus services in order to give them a chance to take up opportunities in education and work, and to take the first steps to independence. One in five students has considered dropping out of further education because of financial cost and transport is the greatest cost of participation. Older and disabled people have benefited from free bus travel, enabling mobility and associated economic activity; however bus cuts could mean that concessionary pass holders end up with no buses to get on. Disabled people use buses more often than non-disabled people, and are less likely to have the choice to take a car. Bus cuts are a false economy, damaging economic recovery and adding to unemployment, contrary to government commitments. Surveys have shown that a third of jobseekers say poor transport options are the biggest barrier to finding work. Local businesses depend on customers getting to the shops and services on the bus. Redundancies in the bus industry, and the associated negative social and economic impacts, will also be felt as a result of bus cuts. Bus cuts will result in more car journeys. Buses are an essential part of the strategy for reducing carbon as well as tackling congestion and social exclusion. We are therefore asking you to ask government departments find ways to pool budgets at a national and local level to mitigate the worst impacts of cuts. We also ask you to bring together local authority leaders and transport operators to identify ways for local authorities to support bus services through better contracting of services to more effectively deliver essential bus services. Finally, we ask you to consider reviewing the proposed cut to the fuel tax rebate for buses (BSOG) in 2012. The proposed 20 per cent reduction will deal a severe blow to bus services and bus users. Campaign for Better Transport, Action with Communities in Rural England, AgeUK, British Youth Council, Bus Users UK, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Campaign for Real Ale, Community Transport Association UK, Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Greenpeace, Living Streets, National Children’s Bureau, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, National Pensioners Convention, Road Peace, RMT, UK Youth Climate Coalition, UNISON, Sustrans, National Council of Women of Great Britain Transport Salaried Staffs' Association BUS CUTS DAMAGE ECONOMIC RECOVERY Following the successful RMT Parliamentary Bus seminar and the publication of the RMT Report Buses Matter, an open letter has been sent to the Prime Minister signed by numerous organisations who all fighting to protect bus services. A full version can be found on the RMT website