Giles Fearnley, FirstGroup’s UK Bus Managing Director said:
“Private sector bus operators have delivered results for passengers and local authorities - for instance, the five major operators have invested more than £1.4bn over the last five years in commercial bus services across the UK.
“Replicating London's bus system elsewhere isn't feasible since the capital has atypically low car ownership, a growing population and above all, a high level of public spending of more than £500m every year - or £75 per Londoner in 2012/13, compared to just £19 per person in England's other metropolitan cities.
“The most effective way to deliver the best bus services for passengers is through operators and local authorities working together in partnership, and FirstGroup is doing just that with our partnerships in cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol delivering lower fares, increasing use of smart and mobile ticketing and meeting local authority aspirations to get more passengers on buses."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- FirstGroup is one of Britain’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of bus services outside London. Our fleet of some 6,400 buses carries approximately 1.6 million passengers a day in a huge number of communities including 40 of the UK's largest towns and cities.
- Nationally, the average fare for a single three mile journey outside London rose 5% between 2011 and 2013, in line with a 5.5% increase in CPI over the same period.
- Weekly bus travel is cheaper in metropolitan cities (£14 average) than in London (£20.70 average). In Greater Manchester we have reduced fares by up to 28%; on some routes this has led to passenger growth of up to 50%.
- We are a leading partner in three of the five Better Bus Areas in the country (in South Yorkshire, York and the West of England) and work in close partnership with local authorities to deliver solutions to congestion and stimulate economic activity. In Sheffield partnership has delivered lower fares for 60% of fare-paying adults and growth of 10% in fare-paying passengers.
- FirstGroup’s satisfaction score in the National Passenger Survey, March 2014, was 86% - higher than the average figure for London of 83%.
- We have invested £310m in 2,000 new buses since 2012, with free Wi-Fi as standard on many new and refurbished buses.
- In 2013/14, people made 5.2bn bus journeys in the UK, 60% of all public transport journeys. There are 2.5m bus commuters nationwide, with more people using buses to get to work than all other forms of public transport combined.