When was the last time the bus arrived on time? 

 

Emitting 153g less CO2 per km than the average petrol car, never has if been more important that we encourage ridership in the fight against climate change. Unreliability is not where that starts. 

 

Meegan Sanigar, a student who takes the number nine stagecoach bus ten times per week to get to college said, “if I had a pound for every time the bus was over 10 minutes late or just simply didn’t show up at all, I’d be able to have the heating on full and afford it”. 

 

But she isn’t alone, in a 2021 survey by North East Lincolnshire council, respondents stated the need for improved reliability and frequency as well as lower costs. With 120,000 journeys by bus every week in North East Lincolnshire and 235 miles per person per year by local bus, the need for reliability is paramount. 

 

Reliability isn’t the only problem plaguing the service. Disparity also causes issues. 

 

With just 13.4% of England’s population, London has 29% of all the buses and accounts for 52% of all journeys by bus. 

 

While stagecoach and other bus operators have invested heavily in greener technologies across the UK, it’s time for large scale investment to bring bus services in areas like North East Lincolnshire up to the standards set in London. 

 

That means frequent, reliable services at lower prices, helping to improve the 1.4 billion journeys by bus outside London and grow the ridership as we combat CO2 emissions, 27% of which in the UK come from transportation. 

 

And when one bus can take 75 cars off the road, it’s essential to improve bus reliability and in turn encourage passengers to take local bus routes.