Under-22s in England should get free bus travel to access work and training, MPs say | Transport policy

People under 22 years of age should take a free bus trip to help them work and access in otherwise cut communities, a deputy committee called ministers to show more ambition to reverse a long -term decline in bus trip.

According to the report of the Party Commons Transport Committee, plans to transfer the powers on bus services to local transportation authorities are accepted, but it is not sufficient to make bus services more reliable in smaller towns and rural areas.

Pointing out a 20% decrease in the number of passengers throughout the UK since 2009 and a 18% decrease in the number of roads outside the city since Covid, the report said that more than half of small towns are effectively “deserts için for those who no longer a car.

Their suggestions include the fact that the British national privileged travel program, which has already provided free bus travel to retired persons and certain disabled people, should be expanded to anyone under 22 years of age starting with a pilot plan.

“This will support access to business and skill opportunities for young people and help to establish long -term public transportation.”

Last year, the Ministry of Transport (DFT) promised a “bus revolution ve and allowed local transportation officials to run and control bus services, as in London and Greater Manchester.

The Committee acknowledged that it would help to provide appropriate policies locally, but probably warned that it would have a limited impact on taking the inequalities in bus services, and it was not likely to make significant improvements of areas outside the city.

“There is no consensus that structural reform alone can achieve goals such as increasing connection, better integration and more affordable journeys,” the report said.

Ministers, all local transport officials operating bus services, at the end of this parliament, including multi -year settlements for bus services, including guaranteed long -term financing should help help.

Other suggestions include a possible rural weight for bus financing and minimum standards for bus stops, including real -time information about the next services.

Ministers should create a national policy for buses in the UK within the next 18 months – Transportation is a policy that is transferred with a clear vision of what a successful bus network resembles and what it should reach.

A DFT spokesman said: “After decades, we break a record of 1 billion pounds in multi -year finance to increase the reliability and frequency of bus services throughout the country.

“Our Landmark Bus Services invoice will protect the routes and prevent the services from being scrapped, bring the buses back to local control and put the passengers in the heart of the services. Until March 2027, he took a step to prevent a wage increase for passengers by extending the wage cover of £ 3. “