Call for Burnham to remove bus 'postcode lottery'

Transport campaigners in the South are urging the prime minister to visit the region to see for himself how rural areas are struggling with limited bus services.

Susan Dorsett is leader of Hampshire-based group the Knightwood Valley Park Campaigners, and called on Andy Burnham to invest in the region's bus services like he has in the north.

She is calling on the PM to nationalise bus services in a bid to remove "the postcode lottery" at national level.

Burnham previously said it would be "devastating" if people lost access to crucial bus services, and Labour has announced plans to bring franchises under the closer control of local authorities.

Dorsett said the £2 bus fare cap, announced in the summer, was of no use to many in rural areas who don't have the bus routes to benefit.

She would like to see "profitable routes subsidize essential and socially necessary, non-profit routes. To ensure that no one is left stranded and isolated without accessible public transport".

The Campaign for Better Transport has estimated that 15% of people across the country live in areas with bus services that are below the minimum required for people to use them.

It says for £300m a year, England could get buses back into its worst-served communities.

For about £1bn, the group calculated, ministers could provide decent, frequent services in towns and rural areas.

Campaign for Better Transport Director of Policy and Research Silviya Barrett said it was imperative that bus services in rural areas were funded as the essential services they are.

"If this was to happen it would open up opportunities to people who live in urban and rural areas allowing them to access doctors, employment and education and friends and family," she said.

There are areas in the South where bus use is booming.

In Portsmouth, improvements made to the city's bus network have helped boost bus use by 41% in the past two years, with more than one million journeys now made each month.

Councillor Peter Candlish said the key to the city's success was finding out what people really wanted.

He said: "We focused on the bus service itself, we put in new routes, great new information boards, further information about your travel plans, all the things you need if you are going to have a successful bus journey."

This September bus travel in the city will also be free at weekends.

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: "With limited public funding and ongoing financial pressures, we have had to make difficult decisions in recent years about where bus service subsidies can be maintained.

"We will continue to work with operators and local communities to identify opportunities to provide additional services wherever possible."