Buses can help with air quality problem
I WRITE to you regarding the recent article ‘Council bosses back campaign to bring buses under public control,’ (M.E.N., March 11).
We share the desire of local politicians for better bus services and cleaner air. We are also concerned about the drop in bus use, but it’s important to set passenger figures into context.
The latest DfT passenger statistics show that bus patronage in Manchester has declined by 26.3m trips since 2009/10.
These numbers are nothing in comparison to the monumental decline in bus passenger numbers when buses were under public ownership. Between 1986 and 1993, passenger numbers fell by 100m over that seven year period. At the same time, public spend on buses increased year on year.
The biggest reason for the current decline is the failure to tackle congestion. Traffic congestion is becoming a disease across the region, but in seeking to treat the problem, we need to make sure we understand the reasons and have the right diagnosis.
What is clear is that the common problem in facing up to all of these challenges is the practical reality of too many cars on our roads. Official figures show that there were more than 1.14million cars licensed in Greater Manchester at the end of 2017, some 17,600 more than in 2016 and 75,400 more than in 2012.
Increasing car use is causing gridlock on our roads, causing an air quality crisis, damaging the reliability of the bus network and pushing up fares. A single organisation could not resolve these issues on their own. That’s why the best way forward is a partnership approach that puts sustainable bus travel and passengers first.
A franchising system won’t address congestion or make buses run more reliably, while a bus passenger tax won’t make our air cleaner. These measures will push up council tax bills and bus fares, and damage the very bus networks that are crucial to our economy and communities.
Buses should be seen as a solution to improving air quality, and not the cause. Within the partnership, operators have committed to introducing hundreds of new low-emission buses to help tackle the region’s air quality crisis, alongside many more improvements that will benefit everyone in our region. Gary Nolan, OneBus