Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of whether the bus service operators grant is used by bus operators to keep fares down.

Andrew Jones

We have been reviewing the Bus Service Operators Grant scheme in recent years with a view to improving its effectiveness in supporting bus services. In their assessment of the impact of any changes in policy associated with the Bus Service Operators’ Grant, departmental economists normally assume operators pass subsidy received on to passengers 50% through lower fares and 50% through increased service levels. Under these assumptions, they estimate that BSOG has the impact of keeping fares 3% lower than they would be in its absence in England outside of London.