A reminder that Labours bus reforms (regulation especially) are genuinely transformative. Together, if done right, they can make a very real, very visible difference by the next election

MSmikeysmith.comSep 7, 2024 5:19pm

STORY Labour will scrap Thatcher-era ban on councils taking bus services back into public ownership in new rules to be unveiled this week www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Councils will be allowed to run local buses as Labour scraps Thatcher's ban

It’s understood Labour’s rule changes, to be tabled in the Commons on Tuesday, will lift the ban on local councils setting up community bus companies, allowing more local leaders to take more services...

Something needs doing. We've just had a couple of village buses turned into "expresses" which bypasses villages it would otherwise call at. Great service if you want to walk nearly two miles on a narrow fast road with no pavement to access the nearest stop. Perhaps I will buy a car again.

This a thousand times. We joke that my mam’s epitaph will be that she’s waiting for a bus to whatever comes next, because she spent half her life waiting at bus stops for busses that increasingly never came, so that she could get to her job as a nurse

This is incredible. I genuinely had no idea there was a ban. Why didn't I know this. Wow.

They could - if local councils weren't being starved of cash by central government. Until that changes and the Tory-era local government spending cuts are reversed this will be largely symbolic.

Any news or ideas on the future of capped adult bus fares in England (outside London) ?

Look at Rob Ford's thread on this.

Our recommendation from last year which Labour is essentially now delivering (Also includes a handy explainer of the madness!)

Agreed, but they’ll need ongoing subsidy if they’re going to deliver cheap fares and a comprehensive network.

People will notice it too. Especially in rural areas.

This is excellent.