Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to collect and publish data on bus fares by local authority; and if he will plan for that data to include fares information in prices rather than according to the retail prices index.

The Buses Bill will include powers to require, through secondary legislation, the release of open data on fares. The specific format of the fares data will be determined following discussions with industry in due course.

The department publishes the local bus fares index, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387116/bus0415.xls. The bus fares index is compiled from data provided by a representative sample of around 100 operators and Transport for London.

The department frequently reviews the statistics it produces in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Following the Buses Bill and discussions with industry, the department will make sure the statistics it collects in relation to local bus fares continue to meet user needs.