Bus choices to be made

For better or worse, 20 years ago the government decided to deregulate and privatise the bus industry.

Having decided that the private sector should operate the buses, we have no say in what they charge for us to ride on them.

I'm not defending Travel West Midlands' latest fares increase - far from it. It is another disincentive for some people to use the bus.

However, it raises wider issues on how buses can provide at least some relief from ever growing traffic congestion.

Year on year, buses get caught up in the same jams as the rest of us.

More resources are needed by the bus company just to stand still, in many cases, quite literally.

This all costs more money, so where do the private operators get it from?

More bus priority, a form of road charges, and a step change in service provision and quality are required. This demands difficult and brave decisions from politicians, both locally and nationally.

We have stark choices to makeÊas a nation when it comes to our transport system. Do we bury our heads in the sand and pretend that traffic congestion isn't there? Or do we radically change the way we see our free movement, by charging people for the actual travel they do, per mile? Do we invest in bus services by giving them the priority lanes they so desperately need? Or do we join those who shout "Yah, boo" at the bus company for putting the fares up, shrug our shoulders and do nothing?

If we decide that private commercial enterprise should run the buses, we have to expect that they will operate like any other business to make money and keep the shareholders happy.

If, on the other hand, we decide to reverse government policy of the last two decades and regain some sort of public control, we should be prepared to pay more in taxes to sort out the current problems and invest in a much higher quality public transport system.

That's what our European neighbours mostly did. And that's why their public transport is what ours should be.

Phil Tonks, Operations Officer, Bus Users UK.