Bus traveling on roads in Cornwall, England.
Patrick Cade | Stone Getty Images
A £ 3 billion ($ 4.16 billion) plan to modernize bus services in England was announced on Monday, with the British government describing it as the “most progressive reform for the region in a generation.”
The overarching strategy will aim to introduce a more reliable, frequent and affordable service to passengers.
The government’s plans include the introduction of 4,000 electric or hydrogen buses, the introduction of offline payments on all services and the creation of “hundreds of thousands of new bus routes.” offer more services on weekends and evenings, and introduce daily fare restrictions on fares.
The government said it would also “move cities and regions across England to buses without emissions” and scramble the sale of new diesel buses, with a consultation on the latter also launched on Monday.
In terms of accessibility, authorities are urging all services in Britain to issue “next stop” notices to passengers. Buses in London already offer this in the form of automated voice recorders and digital boards that provide information on where a bus is going and the next point of call.
Separately, a £ 20 million “rural mobility fund” will seek to pilot on-demand transport for areas of the country where more traditional tenders also do not work. The government said this type of service could involve passengers using an app to book a minibus, a system that has already been introduced in some parts of the country.
“The quality of the bus service you receive should not depend on where you live,” Grant Shapps, the UK government’s transport secretary, said in a statement.
“Everyone deserves access to cheap, reliable and fast bus journeys,” he said. “The strategy we are announcing today will completely modernize services, making make sure we recover better from the pandemic. ”
The plans announced Monday did not win universal approval. Critics included the Unite trade union. His national passenger transport officer, Bobby Morton, argued that, among other things, app-based services would “ban driver employment and make it an expensive two-tier service for non-passengers digitally literate are not excluded. “