Bus cuts: How a city's bus service was quietly cut in half
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[Note: this article is relevant as cycling groups promote ‘active travel’
and public transport, usually in an unthinking manner]

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Michael on the bus
Image caption,
Michael Middleton used to take a night bus home from work, but the service
has been axed
Bus networks are shrinking across Britain, but the cuts have gone much
deeper in some areas than others, BBC analysis has found. In
Stoke-on-Trent, services have been slashed in half in just eight years.
William McLennan met some of the people who are left behind when the buses
stop running.
Short presentational grey line
On a cold February evening, Michael Middleton pulls a thick black beanie
over his ears as he walks home beside a thundering dual carriageway after a
late shift packing orders in a warehouse.
The number 6 bus used to deliver him home - warm and dry - within about
half an hour of clocking off at 22:00, but since 2019 the service into
Stoke-on-Trent no longer runs after 21:15.
So instead, he and a colleague follow a litter-strewn path beside the A50,
shouting their conversation to each other to be heard over the roar of
lorries.
"We just try to block it out," the 61-year-old says. "We try to talk about
anything to not think about it."
Across the city, bus services shrank by an estimated 37% in the five years
to March 2022. Over an eight-year period from 2013/14, that reduction
stands at 50%. In large part, the reductions have not come from the closure
of entire routes. Rather, repeated timetable changes - often, passengers
are told, in the name of improving "reliability" - have quietly cut
services, reducing how frequently a bus arrives, or how late into the
evening it runs.
It is an extreme example of a nationwide decline. Across Britain, the local
bus network has shrunk by an estimated 14% between 2016-17 and 2021-22, BBC
analysis of Department for Transport figures suggests. The total distance
covered by buses each year fell by 210 million miles (338 million
kilometres).
A line chart showing the estimated vehicle miles travelled by buses in
England outside London, London, Wales and Scotland between March 2010 and
March 2022. There is a downward trend for England outside London and a slow
decline for the rest, with a brief sharp downturn in 2020 due to the
pandemic, before moving back to a lower level than pre-pandemic for England
outside London. In London the trend stays stable at about 300 million
miles, in Wales it drops from 72 million to 50 million, Scotland it drops
from 220 million to 179 million and in England outside London it drops from
just over a billion miles to 770 million
Demand for buses, which had been gradually declining for several years,
plummeted during the pandemic and has not recovered. Passenger numbers
across Britain, excluding London, remain about 20% below pre-pandemic
levels, according to the latest figures.
For the past three years, the industry has been propped up by government
grants totalling more than £2bn.
Despite the decline, buses still account for just under half of all public
transport journeys in England. People from lower-income households are both
more likely to use the bus, and less likely to have access to a car,
official statistics show.
In Stoke-on-Trent, the level of car ownership is below the national
average, and in several inner-city neighbourhoods, more than 60% of
households do not have use of a car.
"Mainly round here now, it's all minimum wage," says Michael. He worked as
a miner in the 1980s - then, after the pits closed, he was a supermarket
floor manager, before spending 10 years caring full-time for his wife, who
had a rare neurological condition. After she died four years ago, he took
the job at the warehouse. "The money they pay you, you can't afford to run
a car," he says.
Michael walking home with a colleague
Image caption,
Michael and his colleague walk home along the A50, whatever the weather
Known as the Potteries, the city is made of six towns strung together by a
network of busy A-roads and a shared industrial heritage.
Tens of thousands of people once worked in ceramics factories, but the city
has been remoulded by the 20th Century collapse of British manufacturing.
In its place, logistics and distribution companies have moved into
warehouses across Stoke-on-Trent - now providing about one in 10 jobs.
Yet for low-paid employees, travelling to work has become a logistical
nightmare in itself.
Early one February morning, in the far north of the city, Beverley Barnett
stands on the pavement next to a chicken shop, the grey ground slick with
drizzle.
Her face is lit by the screen of her smartphone, which she swipes
compulsively to check whether her bus - the 3A - will arrive on time this
morning.
The 38-year-old has allowed nearly an hour-and-a-half to make a journey
that would take less than 20 minutes by car. Even so, she is often late
into work at the secondary school where she supports children with special
needs. Her managers are understanding, but she still worries about the
impact on her job security.
"They're as accommodating as they can be, but the kids will be waiting to
start," she says. "I do feel like I'm letting them down."
Beverley on the bus
Image caption,
Beverley Barnett says her eight-mile commute often takes more than an hour
and a half
When she moved back to the city 11 years ago, she chose to live close to
family, rather than within walking distance of work. At that time, it was a
single bus journey lasting about 40 minutes, but the direct service was cut
years ago.
She now faces the daily stress of a touch-and-go transfer at the city
centre bus station. To make matters worse, she says, the frequency of early
morning services was slashed during the pandemic and not restored. Even a
short delay now means she will miss her connection and face a long wait for
the next bus.
"I'll be checking [the app] all the time, thinking 'are we going to be on
time'," she says. "The bus might be only five minutes late, but it adds
almost an hour to my journey."
Later that day, Will Lovatt arrives at the bus station on his way home from
college. The 18-year-old says unreliable buses regularly cause him to miss
the start of lectures, and he fears it is having a "huge impact" on his
education.
It is a sunny February afternoon, but he will soon be heading back to his
family home in Werrington, on the eastern edge of the city. He would like
to spend more time with friends, but the last bus to his village leaves at
19:30.
"It's very restrictive," he said. "By the time you get into something you
have to say 'sorry guys I have to go'."
Will Lovatt at the bus station in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
Image caption,
Will Lovatt gets the bus to college every morning, but is often late for
lectures due to delays
The Campaign for Better Transport has been receiving stories like this on
an almost daily basis.
"Even if a bus route is not completely withdrawn, just making it so
infrequent that it is impractical has the same impact," says Silviya
Barrett, the group's director of policy and research.
Improving bus services - and persuading more people to switch from cars -
is a key component of attempts to reach net zero carbon emissions, and must
be a priority for the government, she says.
And yet, the costs of bus travel have risen much faster than those for
driving. While car owners have enjoyed a 5% cut in fuel duty - which had
already been frozen since 2011 - bus passengers have seen fares rise by
more than 80% over the past 10 years, according to analysis by the RAC
Foundation.
"People are not going to look at the options if it's cheaper for them to
drive," Ms Barrett says.
The buses in Stoke-on-Trent, like the majority of services in England, are
run by private companies. First Bus - the biggest operator in the city -
says cuts to services are a direct result of dwindling demand. Passenger
numbers on its services in the city have only returned to about 80% of
pre-pandemic levels.
"There has been a gradual decline in demand, both in the Potteries but also
across the UK," says Rob Hughes, the company's director of operations.
Even before Covid, the industry had been hit by the decline of the High
Street, rise of online shopping and comparative fall in motoring costs.
"The pandemic has accelerated that decline in demand," Mr Hughes says,
while rising fuel costs and a nationwide driver shortage have heaped on
more costs.
It is a "pivotal time for the industry", he says.

When private operators decide to alter or end a loss-making service, they
must first inform the local authority - which has the option of stepping in
with funding to keep the buses running. But in Stoke-on-Trent, the council
has opted not to do that in recent years. It declined to comment when asked
about this.
Across England, about 13% of services are supported by councils, although
transport experts say this number has been falling steadily as local
authority budgets shrunk.
"Irrespective of the model used to fund bus services, provision needs to
match demand," says Mr Hughes. "We obviously can't run buses without
passengers."
On Friday, the government announced a three-month extension of the Bus
Recovery Grant, which had been due to end in March. It has also extended a
£2 cap on single fares, intended to encourage people on to buses.
The Local Government Association had warned thousands more bus routes could
be lost without further support. It welcomed the three-month extension, but
said the government needed a "long-term, reformed bus funding model with
significant new money".
Before the extension was announced, Mr Hughes told the BBC that First Bus
had already begun telling local authorities which services could be cut
without further support.
The government says it is committed to improving services across the
country. It asked all local authorities to work with bus operators to
develop "bus service improvement plans", and has awarded £1bn in funding.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council will receive £31m for its plans, which, among
other things, aims to reduce fares, increase the frequency of services and
provide more buses in the evening.
The old bus station in Hanley
Image caption,
The site of the old city centre bus station - demolished in 2019 - has been
earmarked for redevelopment
For Michael, change could not come soon enough. "The hours that we work,
the bus services just don't suit," he says. "It doesn't serve us at all."
In his mining days, he never had to worry about getting to work. "The
collieries put on their own work buses, so that wasn't a problem," he says.
"[They] really looked after you. It was a different world."
He worries what impact the lack of public transport will have on the next
generation.
"If they went into the city centre to go to the pictures or something,
there's no way back," he says. "They are being cut off from society."