December 04 2019
As part of the General Election campaign the Conservatives have pledged to provide £4.2bn of funding to fund public transport projects outside of London if they are returned to government. Part of the funding would include measures to improve bus infrastructure to provide quicker more reliable journey times. Responding to the announcement CPT Chief Executive Graham Vidler said:
“Putting bus first in transport networks across our towns and cities is the key to getting more people to take the bus and in turn cut congestion, combat the climate emergency and improve our air quality. This promise to deliver these measures in England’s urban centres, should the Conservatives be returned to government, is to be welcomed. While decisions on specific projects are best made locally it is important that the funding for bus is ring fenced to ensure is it not lost to other projects.
“Partnership agreements across the country have delivered significant increases in passenger numbers and cut congestion without local residents having to take the financial risk of local authority control of bus services. The resources of the next government should be focused on how to put bus first on road networks to tackle congestion and increase passenger numbers rather than subsidising changes to the regulatory model for the industry.”