Like with emergency funding for Transport for London, the government has been playing brinksmanship with local bus services and transport workers’ livelihoods.
Having threatened to remove Covid funding, up to one third of bus services were under threat (see ‘bus services under threat’).
Now, under pressure, the government has made a temporary U-turn. Emergency funding will continue until October. But how many services had already been cut ahead of the initial 1 April deadline? And what of the long-term future of these vital services?
Privatised public transport has failed, and operator bosses have pocketed profits from public subsidies for too long. We say bring public transport back into public ownership, with compensation only on the basis of proven need. Invest in free, reliable mass transportation for all – paid for by taking the wealth of the super-rich profiteers.
