Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the change in bus patronage as a result of bus franchising and enhanced partnerships compared to operation of the deregulated bus market.

Bus passenger journey statistics are collected and published by the Department quarterly.

The Bus Services Act 2017 Impact Assessment estimates the impact of franchising and enhanced partnerships on patronage. Under franchising, we estimated that there will be a significant increase in patronage as a result of fare simplification as Local Transport Authorities take control of bus fare revenue. Under enhanced partnerships, we estimated that patronage will increase as a result of journey quality improvements.