Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend the ultra-low emission but scheme to coach operators.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
At present there are no plans to extend the ultra-low emission bus scheme to coach operators. However, the Clean Air Fund is available for those local authorities with a significant NO2 exceedance. Measures which the fund could support include retrofitting solutions for coaches to help operators reduce their emissions.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the extent to which coach travel contributes to improvements in air quality; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Coaches can reduce congestion and associated emissions. Local Authorities with a significant NO2 exceedance have conducted feasibility studies assessing the impact of road transport on local emissions, including from coaches. The £220m Clean Air Fund is available for these local authorities to help improve air quality, including measures such as coach retrofitting to reduce emissions. Furthermore, the Government has funded the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership’s Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme, which has been extended to support retrofit solutions for coaches.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in which local authority areas in (a) London and (b) England outside London the number of bus journeys per head of population has increased since 2011.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
According to the Department’s annual survey of local bus operators the following local authority areas saw an increase in passenger journeys on local bus service per head between 2011/12 and 2016/17:
The Department does not hold data on passenger journeys per head in individual London authorities. However, overall passenger journeys per head on local bus services in London fell from 283 in 2011/12 to 255 in 2016/17.
Mid-year population estimates from the Office for National Statistics are used to calculate the per head figures but this does not account for bus passengers using the bus outside the local authority in which they reside.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many buses free Wi-Fi is available (a) in London and (b) elsewhere in England.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
According to the Department’s annual survey of local bus operators there were approximately 10,200 buses used on local bus services in London as at 31 March 2017, of which 3 per cent had free Wi-Fi. No buses on routes run under contract to TfL have free Wi-Fi. However, some buses on non-TfL bus routes in London do have free Wi-Fi.
In England outside London there were approximately 24,700 buses used on local bus services as at 31 March 2017, of which 34 per cent had free Wi-Fi.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the importance of the Bus Service Operators Grant on the stability of local bus services.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
No specific assessment has been made regarding Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and the stability of bus services. But departmental assessments of the £250m of BSOG (in England outside London) suggest that it helps to keep fares lower by 3%, service levels 6.7% higher, and patronage 4.4% higher.