REF0037

Written evidence submitted by Citistar Limited

1.              Citistar is a mostly rural bus operator across North Somerset and the Mendips, providing four local bus services all without ongoing subsidy from local government.

2.              I am responding to this inquiry on behalf of my company as I held concerns over the effectiveness and consistency of local transport authorities and existing regulatory frameworks before the pandemic struck.

3.              The following paragraphs are with reference predominantly to the implications of: “The devolution of transport policy-making responsibilities and powers.”

4.              I firmly believe that existing systems of support for local bus services could be improved, but do not need to be torn apart and rebuilt from scratch. Transport authorities need realistic, ring-fenced funding to provide bus services which are logistically and socially important to the overall network.

5.              Providing bus services has become progressively more expensive above inflation over the past 25 years as a result of accessibility and emissions regulations and this needs to be recognised in appropriate funding for services. At the same time, reimbursements for Concessionary Travel have not increased at all, let alone with inflation.

6.              The one aspect which needs urgent attention is ticketing. Bus operators are not currently able to provide unified ticketing, which would make the local bus network far more resilient. We work in an area with one dominant operator, who have been very open to discussions through the local trade association. Sadly, their legal advisers conclude that the current Competition and Markets Authority regulations do not permit us to co-operate to provide a practical single ticketing system to the public in our area. These CMA regulations are not fit for purpose and preventing seamless transfer of services between local bus operators.

7.              In our area, the combination of reduced funding and operator-centred ticketing make bus networks vulnerable to the decisions of a single dominant operator, which is inappropriate. I believe our local Transport Authority (the West of England Combined Authority (WECA)) should be able to introduce a single ticketing system for all bus operators to provide services within the scope thereof.

8.              Commercial local bus services should continue to be free to respond to passenger demand as they do currently. Heavy-handed regulation by local transport authorities who may (or may not) have the skills to effectively manage bus services must be avoided if commercial revenues and service levels are to be maintained. We must not return to a situation akin to the early 1980s where the councillor who shouts loudest gets the best bus service, regardless of real world passenger demand. In the correct framework, recovery funding will achieve far more through providing attractive bus services to the public than through introducing rushed, cumbersome regulation.

9.              I cannot support any move which will make public transport provision more inconsistent across local government authority boundaries. We already suffer from erratic expectations and behaviour between different local councils and they rarely co-operate for the benefit of passengers. Consistency generates confidence, which delivers more resilient transport networks.

September 2020