Who runs the buses?

The vast majority of England’s buses are in private hands, bar a few remaining municipal companies, notably in Nottingham and Blackpool. But the big difference between London and the rest of the country is in how the services are dictated. Since deregulation was passed by the Thatcher government in 1985, a two-tier system has developed. In London, which was excluded from the deregulation bill, the routes, fares and service levels are set by the capital’s transport authority: private bus firms operate services under franchises let by Transport for London. Elsewhere, private bus firms are allowed to operate services on whatever routes they choose.

What has been the effect?

London has retained planned services and a standard single fare across all routes. Elsewhere, operators have vied to run buses on the most popular and lucrative routes, but often neglected to serve destinations deemed uneconomical, or keep a service going outside peak times. In cities such as Manchester and Newcastle, competing bus firms have flooded the same thoroughfares, but demanded public subsidy to operate less profitable services.

Q&A What is the London versus … series? Show London plays a crucial economic, political and cultural role in the UK. It is home to one of the world’s busiest financial centres, the royal family, parliament and some of the best museums on the planet. But that domination has come at a cost. To many living outside it, London has become more of a distant city-state than a capital, increasingly disconnected from the rest of the country. In the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, voters can elect representatives who put their countries first. Londoners sometimes argue they deserve a special deal. After all, London paid an average of £12.7bn a year more in taxes than it received in public spending in the decade up to 2014, subsidising most of the rest of the country. And while life in London might be easy for the oligarchs who have bought up Mayfair, it is a struggle for many. Yet while rail passengers in the north of England and Cornwall still judder to work on 35-year-old Pacer trains, Londoners will soon be able to get around even quicker on the £17.6bn Crossrail. This series explores how the rest of England has been left behind. It will expose how some of the poorest people pay the most for public transport, the north-south divide in health and how cultural institutions have been ravaged by cuts. Finally, it will look at the case for more devolution in England and ask what can be done to bring the country back together at a time when it has never seemed more divided. Helen Pidd



Are services still subsidised?

Yes, but not to the level they were. Central government funding – in the form of the bus service operators grant, which replaced the fuel duty rebate – was cut significantly at the start of the decade. Operators still receive an effective tax rebate according to fuel consumption, just less of it – although that was still worth £43m to Stagecoach in 2017. Discretionary funding from councils has, however, come under severe strain in years of austerity – especially as local authorities are legally obliged to fund any free bus travel for pensioners. That has meant that the “socially necessary” routes that don’t make money have taken the brunt of the cuts.

How have services and patronage been affected?

Broadly, London experienced years of growth from the late 1990s to 2014, while the number of journeys in the regions slowly fell across the same period, with a sharper decline since the start of the decade. According to the Campaign for Better Transport, more than 3,000 bus services in England have been cut partially or fully since 2010. Successive years of reduced funding by councils for supported bus services has led to the total spend falling by 45%, leaving many rural areas cut off.

What about fares?

In London, these have been frozen under the mayor, Sadiq Khan, himself the son of a bus driver. The “hopper fare” he introduced has made multiple journeys feasible for £1.50, when boarding buses within an hour using contactless payment. And for London residents on certain benefits, a discount card exists for buses and trams. The first London mayor, Ken Livingstone, also made a point of keeping bus fares low. However, under Boris Johnson, London bus fares rose faster than in the rest of the country. But overall bus fares have even outstripped RPI inflation, outside London, as the Guardian research showed.

So is everything better bus-wise in London?

Not everything. The quality of some services in the regions exceed those in London: some operators offer free wifi on buses, better seats and charging points; and some routes can work out better value per mile. And if London’s overall network remains the envy of most other cities, services in the capital are also being cut, with a number of routes disappearing as TfL grapples with budget problems including the axing of central government funding. The average speed of London buses has also slowed because of congestion. Meanwhile, analysis of operators’ weekly travelcards by the TAS partnership found that many worked out cheaper than in the capital.

How much are firms making from buses?

The big five – Stagecoach, Go-Ahead, Arriva, National Express and First Group – have all operated rail franchises and other services too, but the bulk of their profits has come from regional bus operations. And the margins are much higher: Go-Ahead, for example, made 12% profit on its regional bus revenues last year, compared with 9% on London bus operations, and less than 2% from UK rail.

Is anything changing?

The metro mayors created under devolution have had the right to impose regulation since the 2017 Bus Services Act passed. Andy Burnham has pledged to reform Greater Manchester services, but may yet not choose the option of full regulation, which operators have resisted and could prove a headache for city halls. However, the threat of action could encourage more partnerships between local authorities and operators, including the growth of transferrable, multi-operator tickets where applicable, and services better designed for communities.

• This article was updated on 12 May 2019 to include mention of TfL’s bus-and-tram discount card for some benefit recipients.