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A million fewer bus journeys were taken in Stoke-on-Trent last year, as public transport in the city continues to decline.

Government figures show that 9.3 million journeys were taken by bus passengers in the Potteries in 2018/19, down from 10.4 million in the previous year – a reduction of more than 10 per cent in just 12 months.

Bus use has been falling in Stoke-on-Trent almost continuously since 2009/10, when 15.6 million journeys were taken.

In 2017/18, though, it appeared the decline might have stabilised, as the figure ticked up slightly from 10.3 million. But last year the downward trend continued once more.

There has also been a decline in Staffordshire, and across England as a whole, but the drop-off has been much faster in the Stoke-on-Trent.

The fall in Stoke-on-Trent equates to around four fewer journeys for every man, woman and child in the city over the course of the year.

Passengers have complained about rising fares and constantly changing timetables, while bus operators have called on the council to do more to promote public transport and discourage car use.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is currently bidding for £59 million from the government’s Transforming Cities fund to improve public transport in the Potteries.

The council’s plans include turning some roads into dedicated bus routes in order to shorten journey times between Stoke Station, the city centre and other destinations.

Dan Jellyman, cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: “Declining bus use doesn’t help with congestion, it doesn’t help with emissions, it doesn’t help business, or some of the poorest in our city. We want to change that.

“We said very publicly back in May that we wanted to fix public transport. If we feel the need to go down the franchising route, we’re not afraid of doing that, but ideally we want to work with local partners first.

“It’s good to see the government launch the Super Bus fund. We don’t have a lot of detail at the moment, but we are talking with the Department for Transport about it.

“I’ve been talking with lots of different bus companies, to see what we could do differently in Stoke-on-Trent. It’s not going to be something we’ll fix overnight, but we have started.

“The fact is that we have to use public transport more and the reason for that is climate change.”

FirstGroup, which owns First Potteries, Stoke-on-Trent’s main bus operator, announced last year it was going to sell off its entire bus arm following losses of nearly £300 million in 2018.

Mr Jellyman said the council was awaiting the outcome of the situation ‘with bated breath’.

The council’s Transforming Cities plans would see Station Road and College Road, in Shelton, become dedicated bus routes in order to improve the reliability of services between the station and the city centre. New bus lanes would also be introduced on key routes across the city.

Rob Hughes, head of operations at First Potteries, says these proposals could make a real difference to bus travel in Stoke-on-Trent.

He said: "The downturn in passenger journeys taken by bus across the country as recently reported by the DfT is not surprising, especially as most towns and cities are struggling with congestion at busy times of the day.

"We are continuously working with Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire city and county councils and other stakeholders on measures to improve public transport provision in the area.

"One such initiative is the Transforming Cities bid which can make a real difference and improvement to bus travel in the Potteries area. Also by working closely with local MPs and council officers we can ensure we are delivering the right bus services into local communities where demand is prominent.

"We already run a comprehensive network of services that are well used by thousands of people every day but we are continuously working to improve that provision further, by making bus travel an attractive option for travel over other modes of transport.”

The figures from the Department for Transport show that the number of bus journeys taken in Staffordshire fell from 16.6 million to 16.1 million, while Cheshire East saw a reduction from 4.1 million to 3.7 million. Across England, the number of journeys fell from 4.35 billion to 4.32 billion.

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