This week’s Leeds council meeting heard from a deputation of Holbeck residents protesting at the decision by First, the city’s biggest bus company, to cut services to their inner-city suburb. This was a commercial decision made to a service that residents feel is public because buses get them to other services, shops and jobs.

In local transport terms rail services are One Direction-esque in their ability to command reams of attention and publicity, yet the reality is that it is bus services that are the real people-movers. In West Yorkshire over 90 per cent of public transport journeys are made on the bus and for communities which are not on the rail network buses are the sole option.

Looking beneath these headlines buses are the form of transport used most often by people on the lowest incomes. Public transport plays a huge role in people’s ability to find, accept and retain work – 64 per cent of jobseekers don’t drive or have access to a car. In seeking to achieve lower unemployment and better quality employment it is buses that play a crucial role. However, since privatisation and deregulation the network has shrunk and fares have risen much more than inflation and overall passenger numbers have been in decline.

Outside London bus services are totally deregulated so the companies that run buses are free to pick routes, timetables and fares. But the market is concentrated so in West Yorkshire two companies, First and Arriva, have over 80 per cent of the market and people only have one provider at most bus stops in West Yorkshire so can’t seek redress for pricing and punctuality failings through market choice. Interestingly, the highest satisfaction by farepaying passengers is Nottingham – where one of the biggest bus operators is run by the city council. This shows that where bus services are more directly accountable passengers feel the benefits.

Deregulation also makes integrating all public transport difficult as bus companies price tickets for their own services cheaper than tickets that cover an area regardless of operator. One of the frustrations for people living in my council ward is that buses into Leeds are operated by one company but buses in Leeds are run by another. Making a simple two-leg journey to a hospital or university in Leeds means paying a 20 per cent fare premium for travelling on two bus companies – hardy value for money.

In the current fiscal environment it is inevitable that the efficiency is scrutinised. Around a third of the cost of bus services in West Yorkshire is met by the taxpayer through directly supporting services and also through payments for younger and older people’s passes and a fuel duty rebate. However, as the residents of Holbeck have found out, complete deregulation doesn’t mean this funding can determine a network that delivers accessibility.

In Tyne and Wear the transport authority has moved to formally consult on using re-regulation powers of a Quality Bus Contract on the premise that it can save £7m per year of subsidy while getting improvements. Department for Transport figures show that the London system of regulation cost less per trip for both the farepayer and subsidy compared to the deregulated environment in big cities.

Fundamentally, the debate about bus services is wider than regulation. There is a need to improve the road network to make routes more efficient by making journeys more reliable and reducing the time – and running costs – of having buses stuck in traffic. I believe this has to be in the context of seeing savings retained in the locations they are generated. Reduced running cost should be reflected in ticket pricing and subsidy costs, not higher profits being taken out of an area.

London-style powers of regulation look very attractive in the outcomes that can be achieved, not just in terms of an increase in passengers but also in terms of seeking value for money, better reliability, and being able to determine a bus network to ensure wider public policy outcomes can be achieved.  In response bus companies argue that their behaviour can change without re-regulation though voluntary partnership agreements.

I know most bus passengers aren’t engaged in a technical debate about re-regulation but they do worry about the cost of fares and get frustrated when services are unreliable or get cut completely. Labour’s bus policy must get to the heart of these issues in in the run-up to the next general election.

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James Lewis is chair of the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority. He tweets @JamesLewisLab

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Photo: Brian Clift