Penalising drivers

Why must every plan to increase the use of public transport come at the direct expense of drivers? The Government is expected to launch a new multi-billion pound fund this week that will encourage councils across the country to build hundreds more bus lanes.

Buses will be given priority at traffic lights, and local authorities may be given greater powers to fine motorists for minor infractions. The inevitable result will be even longer journey times for drivers, when they have already been punished in the past year by an absurd campaign of street closures and by the proliferation of barely-used cycle lanes.

There is nothing wrong in principle with encouraging more people to use buses. They are a comparatively cheap mode of public transport – certainly when compared to the billions of pounds still being lavished on white elephants like HS2. Ideally, they should be run without subsidy, although there may be a case for targeted support in rural areas.

However, it is hard to escape the conclusion that ministers wish to make driving so unpleasant an experience that people have no option but to give up their cars and use alternative means of transport instead.

This is not only to misunderstand the reason why millions drive (young families and older people will not be able or willing to take the bus). It is against what the Conservative Party has always stood for. The Tories ought to be on the side of the consumer and individual autonomy. By all means expand people’s choices by making it easier to take the bus, but not by penalising other road users.