SAVE OUR BUSES

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2014 :: RMTnews 12 Around 50 per cent of local authorities in England and Wales have reduced their support for buses for 2013, while the 2014/15 financial year is likely to be a difficult one for bus services, according to a report by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT). Three councils have stopped supporting services and others might follow, warned the CBT, whose report is entitled Buses In Crisis and is based on responses to Freedom of Information Act requests made to all local transport authorities regarding supported buses. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that savage cuts to Britain’s buses are part of an all-out attack which was decimating life-line services across whole communities as the bus companies wheel out a pack of excuses to justify cherry-picking the profitable routes and dumping the rest. “With local authorities looking at axing entire routes we can expect to see many more people plunged into transport poverty and effectively left as prisoners in their own homes. “For many elderly and low paid people, particularly in rural areas, the bus is their only connection with the wider world and provides an absolutely essential service. “It is truly shocking that the notion of buses as a public service is being ripped apart and this latest report only fuels the argument for public ownership of transport to protect those who rely on our buses to get about,” he said. Key findings in the report include: • In the last year there have been £17 million of cuts in the budget for support buses in England. Plans for cuts of £48 million have already been announced for future years, with the likelihood of more to come; • Counties making year-on- year cuts of more than 10 per cent to support for buses include Shropshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, West Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Dorset and Gloucestershire; • 47 per cent of local authorities have reduced their spending on supported bus provision this year; • Southend, Darlington and Hartlepool have become the first three local authorities no longer to support any bus services. In addition, county counties considering cuts include Worcestershire, Cumbria, Oxfordshire, North Yorkshire, Dorset, Essex and Nottinghamshire. Cuts could also be made by Transport for London, West Midlands transport authority Centro and the Welsh government, the report said. CBT public transport campaigner Martin Abrams said that cuts to bus services were now reaching critical levels. “We have seen services lost year on year and with further deep cuts planned next year, some authorities may stop supporting buses altogether. "This is a watershed moment, if government doesn't take action to help support buses, we will see whole networks disappear. "Politicians, both locally and in Westminster, need to understand how important buses are. "They may not be as politically sexy as big transport projects but they make a significant difference to the economy, the environment and to wider society. “It would be a disaster if whole networks were allowed to disappear,” he said. Chairman of the Local Government Association economy and transport board Peter Box said that councils were contending with 43 per cent budget cuts, reductions to bus-related grants and the spiralling cost of the concessionary travel scheme which government has never properly funded. SAVE OUR BUSES Cuts to bus services are now reaching ‘critical levels’ says new report