There, all public transport has been free to residents since 2013. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, has the most radical scheme of all. Germany’s three-month experiment with €9 tickets was credited with saving about 1.8m tonnes of CO 2 emissions. Unfortunately, in Britain rail fares went up for inadequate services. In Europe, discounted travel schemes were available this year on state-owned rail as well as bus services. In July, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, won a judicial review, meaning that his plan for an integrated local transport system similar to that run by Transport for London is expected to go ahead. All three areas already have the £2 cap now being introduced nationally. But it was the Labour mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire who acted first. Imposing similar arrangements elsewhere should have been a no-brainer for a government committed to levelling up. Reduced demand for petrol could also contribute to lowering inflation.įor more than 30 years, since the bus service was privatised, London was the only place in England with regulated fares – a grossly unfair situation since people living elsewhere have the same need to move around at an affordable price. If energy costs have forced ministers to act, it is better late than never. Change in this destructive state of affairs is long overdue. With single bus fares as high as £5 in some rural areas, people have been strongly incentivised to use cars, particularly when travelling in groups. When more people use buses and bicycles, rather than cars, congestion and journey times are reduced. Car journeys are a hugely significant source of carbon emissions and localised air pollution, with 91% of the UK’s total transport emissions coming from roads. If the subsidy persuades people to travel by bus instead of by car, as ministers hope and expect, it will also have a beneficial effect on the environment. Many of them are facing a painful squeeze on their finances due to rising fuel and food prices. It should make life a bit easier for the millions of people who rely on buses to travel to work and for other journeys. The announcement earlier this week that bus companies in England will be subsidised to cap local fares at £2 for three months, from January to March, is very welcome. But making public transport cheaper is a good policy that can be expected to deliver multiple benefits. T he UK government was slower than several of its European counterparts to realise it.
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