Don’t believe the myths about why bus fares go up...
IN response to the news about fare changes from Greater Manchester bus operators announced for the new year, I am writing to explain to readers why bus companies, like any other businesses, need to review fares on a regular basis to maintain services and continually improve their offer.
In my capacity as chief executive of OneBus, a partnership made up of 18 commercial bus companies serving Greater Manchester, I’m keen to bust some myths surrounding bus services in the region, particularly with regards to funding and the bus network.
Bus operators shoulder over 81 per cent of the cost of delivering Greater Manchester’s bus network. This includes for example wages for staff, purchase and ongoing maintenance of vehicles, fuel and service enhancements such as wi-fi, cashless payments and on-board technology. The only direct funding the bus industry receives from central government is the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) – which equates to 60pc of the fuel tax operators pay on fuel – unlike rail and air operators who pay no such duty.
Through the Council Tax Levy, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) pay for bus services sitting above and beyond the commercial network where they feel there is need for additional services – in most cases, these are where passenger fares would otherwise be insufficient to cover the fixed costs of running a service.
Like any business, drivers, engineers and back-office teams expect and deserve to be appropriately remunerated for their hard work.
One of the biggest issues driving up costs is congestion, which is heavily impacting on our operations. This has seen traffic speeds fall below 10 mph in the city centre, which has led to increased journey times, and a huge 1.14m cars licensed in the area. Congestion adds over £10m to the annual bill of running bus services in Greater Manchester, increasing the cost of travel for passengers, impacting on reliability and affecting public confidence in buses.
At OneBus, we want to work in partnership with the mayor’s office and TfGM to assist in the development of a solution. The immediate priority has to be on investing in the infrastructure and traffic management, while ensuring that road improvement works are properly planned. Most importantly, the system needs to prioritise transport that connects the most people with where they want to go in the most efficient and environmentally sustainable way – that mode is the bus.
It is vital that people have accessible and attractive public transport alternatives to the car. That’s why bus operators have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in improvements to bus networks, vehicle fleets, ticketing and cus- tomer information. If we genuinely want to improve the current situation then we require partnership between the public and private sector, and bold political decisions.
The health of our children, the health of our public transport network, and the health of our economy is suffering as a result. Gary Nolan, chief executive, OneBus