Government gives bus operators six month pandemic support extension

The UK government has announced a package of £150m to support bus and light rail services in England, heading off warnings from councils and bus operators that essential services would be axed this month if the emergency government funding support was not extended. 

The Department for Transport said the £150 million package represents the “final tranche of pandemic-related support” and will run for six months until October 2022.

The funding aims to keep local transport services running and support both local authorities and operators across England as they continue working on bus service improvement plans.

Responding to the announcement Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said, “We are grateful the government heeded our calls to continue supporting bus services until passenger numbers can begin to recover.

“This is good news for buses and the communities which rely on them and should help prevent the large-scale cuts to services we feared. We now want to see a government-led campaign to boost people’s confidence to leave their cars at home and get back on board public transport so that buses can start to fund themselves once again.”

Jonathan Bray, Director of the Urban Transport Group, added, “This six month extension of recovery funding should provide the breathing space necessary to address the need for more comprehensive reform of bus funding. This should be based on streamlining, enhancing and devolving bus funding in order to enable bus networks to meet the medium and long-term objectives of the national bus strategy for growing the bus market through more and better services.”

The news was also welcomed by bus operator Go-Ahead Group’s chief executive, Christian Schreyer. He said, “If Britain is to move towards a net zero future, it is vital that people leave their cars at home and switch to public transport. This short-term finance will go some way towards bridging the gap and will help us build a broader network of successful bus services.”