COMMENT
Aregular source of frustration over my years writing about the bus industry has been the short-sightedness of policies relating to buses, in the rare event that the industry is noticed by politicians in the first place. All too often, it seems anything put out to make change must deliver something prior to the next general election. The result is a long history of missed opportunities, inefficient spending and lack of substance.
The recent Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) saga is another example, where the need to have something to show off in the next general election campaign season has taken precedence over taking care to implement the policy properly. Absurdly short deadlines for BSIPs were put in place with no regard to the difficulties local authorities and operators were facing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Much of the original funding was stripped away from potential bus priority projects to support bus services through the pandemic when patronage collapsed. It was of course necessary for operators to be given this emergency funding, but for it to be taken from an fund earmarked for long-term improvements doesn’t follow through on the ambition which was suppose…
