COMMENT
The new Labour government has already shown that state interest in the bus industry is being maintained. The subject was brought up in the King’s Speech after the general election, when the Better Buses Bill was announced (see page six). Full details of what the bill will contain are to be determined, but we do know it’s going to allow more local authority areas to pursue bus franchising if they wish. It will also allow the creation of new municipal bus companies, though I suspect few councils will have the appetite to create one.
The unusual attention for buses seen under the previous Conservative government seemed to derive at first from the personal interest of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was uncertain after his departure whether buses would revert to being a joke subject in the minds of MPs, but his predecessor Rishi Sunak did continue to push through bus policy, most notably the £2 single fare scheme.
Labour barely mentioned the scheme before or after the election, and there’s speculation that it could end.
Simon Lightwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport, has said that operators will not face a cliff-edge when it comes to the £2 fare scheme.
