Watch my speech on improving bus services in South Devon

I met with the Campaign for Better Transport and the group ‘Transport for Quality of Life’ this week to hear about their ambitious report which would transform how we travel in rural England.

They believe it would be possible to have a rural bus service that would put an end to inequality and social exclusion caused by the dominance of cars in rural areas.

A bus to every village, every hour, every day, from 6am to midnight – just imagine the impact of that! People could get to work, to college, to medical appointments, go to the pub, get to the gym, go to the beach for a walk… no parking tickets, no stressful reversing in the lanes… it feels fanciful to imagine something like this in South Devon where many of the villages have no bus service at all, let alone a poor one.

The report looks at public transport systems across Switzerland, Austria and Germany to show that it is possible to deliver a comprehensive bus network that offers excellent connectivity to rural communities.

It would cost little more than has been wasted on the cancelled leg of HS2 – just imagine the difference if that money had been used to transform bus travel for every village in England!

The estimate is £3.3 billion – a huge amount of money BUT – it’s not far off the amount used to build new roads, and it’s an investment. For every community that has a fully functioning bus service more people will go to work, will go to the shops, go for a coffee – literally putting money into the local economy. It becomes a virtual circle and communities will immediately feel the benefit.

It’s a big ask of any government, admittedly. But it’s good to think big and have aspirations for how we can make positive change. Listen to my speech from the Bus Services Bill debate and you’ll hear me throw out the idea to a rather unreceptive looking minister.