On Monday 15 March 2021, the Government published Bus Back Better, a national bus strategy aimed at improving bus services and links for communities across England. You can read the strategy here.
Barry White, Chief Executive at Transport for the North, said: “Buses are absolutely integral to the North’s public transport system and are a daily part of millions of peoples’ lives in getting from A to B.”
“This is a promising strategy that rightly seeks to make buses more reliable, easier to use and better for the environment. It also recognises the critical role of local leaders in knowing what is best for their area and having command over how their services should be improved. They must be supported by the necessary funding to deliver passenger benefits, including infrastructure investment.
“Public transport – be it bus, tram or train – needs better ticketing. We’ve already made strides in kitting out Northern train stations for contactless payments in the future as well as making bus data available on some of the UK’s biggest known travel apps.
“We share the Government’s ambition for an integrated ticketing approach to allow passengers to buy a through journey for local bus, rail and metro with a single tap on a smartphone. We hope recognition of the link between better fares and encouraging people onto public transport as part of our recovery will see progress made on funding such initiatives in the year ahead.”
