Cornwall Council has published a news release about the Bus Fares Pilot and its impact on passenger numbers. Unfortunately, the information provided poses more questions than answers.
The news release says, "Bus passengers in Cornwall saved around £1.2m during the first three months with more than 625,000 reduced fares tickets sold between April and July.”
What does “more than” mean? 626,000 is more than 625,000. 10 million is more than 625,000. Also, what constitutes a “ticket”? Do a single ticket, a return ticket, a one-week ticket all count as one ticket? It would have been helpful to publish more detailed information about passenger journey numbers, the take-up of single and return tickets, the sale of £5 all-day and £20 all-week tickets etc.
What is meant by saved £1.2m? Is it the difference between the current fare and the fare that the passenger would have paid for the same ticket before the Bus Fares Pilot started? Or is it the sum that Cornwall Council has paid the bus companies in subsidy? £1.2m for 3 months equates to £4.8m for a year, and less than £20m for 4 years (the anticipated term of the Bus Fares Pilot). The Council refuses to disclose how the subsidy to the bus companies is paid, e.g. is it paid per ticket, or is it lump sums for routes? It is impossible to judge if the scheme is providing value for money for the taxpayer or if it just a temporary fix for bus companies’ financial problems.
It is said that "passenger numbers are yet to return to pre-Covid levels”. Passenger numbers need to increase significantly above pre-Covid levels if the reduced fares are to be maintained in the long term. I fully support the Bus Fares Pilot and its attempts to increase passenger numbers, but a lot more needs to be done to encourage passengers to use public transport rather than driving their own cars.
To cap it all, the portfolio holder statement in the news release is attributed to Philip Desmonde. Mr Desmonde stepped down from the Cabinet on 18 October and was replaced by Connor Donnithorne, although Cornwall Council still shows (at time of publishing this item) Mr Desmonde as Portfolio Holder for Transport on its website.