Select committee: Built Environment Committee
Conclusion 12
1st Report - Public transport in towns and cities
Published 9 Nov 2022
Paragraph 104
Built Environment Committee Public transport in towns and cities All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We heard evidence that the Government’s ambition for ‘London-style’ public transport throughout England would be difficult to achieve under the current deregulated environment. Initiatives such as enhanced partnerships are a step in the right direction as they provide an opportunity for operators and local authorities to collaborate to improve services. Local and central government should monitor their effectiveness.
From: Built Environment Committee, 1st Report - Public transport in towns and cities, paragraph 104, 9 November 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 January 2023 (deadline 9 January 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the report and says it agrees with the Committee on a number of recommendations, while noting, partially agreeing with or disagreeing with others.
- It agrees that public transport investment should focus on user priorities, citing 'Improving Transport for the User' as one of DfT's five strategic priorities.
- On a multimodal zonal ticketing evaluation, it "notes" the recommendation and says it is for local areas and operators to consider the costs and benefits of specific integrated ticketing solutions.
- It "partially agrees" on bus rapid transit evaluation, saying a Government-led post-project evaluation "would likely be of limited comparable value" and may risk breaching mode neutrality.
- On bus funding after emergency support ends, it "partially agrees", says DfT is "actively considering" long-term support from April 2023, and "hope[s]" to set out more clarity by January 2023.