Delivering sustainable rural transport
I’ve long taken the view that better and more integrated local transport is an essential part of the vitally important levelling-up approach, and that is why I took the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to meet with the Director of South Pennine Community Transport to discuss the community transport model offered through services such as the No. 26 between Penistone and Stocksbridge.
Prime Minister's Questions - November 25
"I welcome the plans for a green industrial revolution, particularly the commitments to public transport. Delivering sustainable rural bus services has always been a challenge, but in my constituency South Pennine Community Transport is trialling a new low-cost, low-carbon bus service that we believe could be a model for transformed rural bus services across the UK. So will my right hon. Friend meet me and South Pennine director, Kevin Carr, to discuss this model and look at how some of the Government’s £5 billion commitment to buses can be used to transform rural services? (Miriam Cates MP)
"My hon. Friend asks an excellent question, and we are developing a national bus strategy that will look at the needs and how to get more people to use our buses. In addition to championing green zero-carbon or low-carbon buses, we are providing £20 million for a rural mobility fund to support demand in rural areas." (The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson)
Penistone and Stocksbridge, a semi-rural constituency, is made up of distinct villages and communities, many sitting distant from their nearest shopping, health care, education, skills and training facilities, and also from the high value jobs deserved by local people.
Talking to constituents it’s long been clear that our local public transport needs significant improvement. One particular area of concern is that our local bus services do not extend, in any meaningful way, to our local villages, meaning residents are increasingly isolated and so disadvantaged. It is of course important to recognise that there is a need to ensure a balance between cost, revenue and demand but we must do more to find a better way to deliver a good quality service to ensure our local communities stay connected.
I am confident that through a community bus model we can take steps to deliver a viable and attractive service - this is particularly true if at the same time we invest in rail services such as the Don Valley Line.
The community model can adapt to meet emerging demands but can also help tackle the old problem of demand versus cost. The model takes advantage of familiar features such as – timetabling, scheduling, ticketing and routing but can introduces less familiar approaches such as – on demand pick-up and drop-off, familiar and customer focused drivers, smaller more agile buses and more.
It has always been a challenge to deliver financially sustainable rural transport but I believe that the No. 26 service provides a model that has the potential to help transform rural bus services across the UK. I will be following this up with the Prime Minister to make sure that our local rural services benefit from the Government’s £5bn investment in buses and active travel.
