Bus companies in England will receive a coronavirus rescue package worth £167m over the next three months on condition they keep vital services running despite dramatically reduced passenger numbers.
The Department for Transport announced the Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant on Friday, on top of a previous commitment to maintain support funding worth £230m.
The total £397m package comes more than a week after the government announced a rescue package for the rail industry after new social-distancing rules sent passenger numbers on public transport spiralling.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps last week told a parliamentary select committee that bus passenger numbers had fallen by 78 per cent following strict government instructions to stay at home.
But while ministers have urged the majority of people to avoid public transport, bus services remain essential for key workers such as nurses, care workers and food retail staff getting to work.
“Our buses are a lifeline for people who need to travel for work or to buy food — including our emergency services and NHS staff,” Mr Shapps said.
“This multimillion-pound investment will protect crucial local transport links across England, bolstering the sector and minimising disruption for passengers in the long term.”
Operators receiving the grant will need to provide enough services to meet demand during the expected peak of the outbreak, while also allowing adequate space between passengers on board.
The new £167m grant is in addition to an existing £200m Bus Service Operator Grant, usually paid on the basis of fuel consumption.
Last week Mr Shapps confirmed that money would continue to be paid despite services being reduced, while a further £30m that had been committed to developing new services would now be spent on maintaining them.
The agreement follows extensive discussions between government and operators over how much money would be needed to “plug the gap” in funding to secure services.
The Confederation of Passenger Transport, an industry body, said last month that £1bn would be needed to prevent the “decimation” of the bus network and to save thousands of jobs, although it did not say over what time period or whether that figure included other indirect forms of government support, such as funding for wages of furloughed workers.
Welcoming the new funding package, the group’s chief executive, Graham Vidler, said: “This funding is designed to plug the gap between the costs of running essential routes and revenue currently being received, and will help the country through the outbreak by allowing critical journeys to continue.”
Operators are expected to run about 50 per cent of normal service levels, despite catering for a smaller number of passengers in order to avoid the overcrowding problems seen on the London Underground since Boris Johnson introduced tougher social-distancing measures on March 23.
CPT said operators and local authorities would work together to decide which services best met the needs of essential staff.
