Budget should reconnect the one in seven people at risk of being left behind without better buses

3 October 2026

Ben Plowden, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The Prime Minister has made clear that buses are our most used form of public transport and an essential public service, yet too many communities still lack a decent service. Andy Burnham knows that without good buses, people can struggle to access jobs, education, healthcare and other opportunities. Public finances are under pressure, but an extra £300 million a year would help ensure good buses in every postcode and represent excellent value for money. Seven in every ten trips are under five miles. Investing in local buses is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to improve everyday journeys, reduce social exclusion and support thriving communities.”

Campaign for Better Transport’s research shows that one in seven people in England (15 per cent) live in areas where bus services fall below its definition of an acceptable standard, with too few bus stops and services that are not frequent enough to meet everyday travel needs. The research also found that more than two in five people (42 per cent) live in places that fail to meet a more ambitious ‘best practice’ standard of bus provision, which would offer high-quality, high-frequency services capable of attracting new passengers and giving people greater travel choice.

Campaign for Better Transport is calling on the Government to include an additional £300 million in targeted bus funding in the Budget. This represents just 0.15 per cent of the annual NHS budget but would help address the most severe gaps in local bus networks and bring underserved areas up to an acceptable standard of provision. Looking further ahead, doubling total bus investment to £2 billion a year by the next Spending Review would enable every area to reach a best-practice standard, giving millions more people access to high-quality bus services and making it easier to choose the bus for everyday journeys.

ENDS

For further information please contact the press office on 07984 773 468 (calls only no texts) or communications@bettertransport.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

• Read Campaign for Better Transport’s full Budget submission.
• Campaign for Better Transport, in partnership with Podaris, collected data on household access to bus stops and the frequency of services for every local authority ward in England to produce an interactive, searchable map. The map shows how many bus services operate a week; what percentage of the people living there can get to a bus stop within a five and ten-minute walk; the bus service frequency; what percentage of residents have access to a car; and how deprived the area is. Each ward was scored green, yellow, amber or red against two bus service standard benchmarks: a ‘minimum baseline’ for a usable bus service, and an ‘ambition benchmark’, setting out a best practice level that local authorities should aim to meet within ten years. Green means there were enough bus stops and services to meet the benchmark; yellow means they require additional bus stops; amber means they require additional services; and red means they failed to meet the minimum number of both bus stops and services to meet the benchmark. View the map online.
• The map reveals that:
  • One in seven (15 per cent) people in England live in places that do not meet the minimum baseline (scoring red, amber and yellow)
  • More than two in five (42 per cent) people in England live in places that do not meet the ambition benchmark.
• NHS England spending on health services in 2024/25 was £187 billion. £300 million represents 0.15% of this. Source: King’s Fund.
• Population of England as of mid-2025 was 58,834,800: Office of National Statistics.
• Podaris is a collaborative, cloud-based platform designed for transport infrastructure planning, engineering, and stakeholder engagement. It is used by local authorities, consultancies, and transport operators to rapidly model, analyse, and share transport scenarios within a web browser.
• Campaign for Better Transport operates in England and Wales. Campaign for Better Transport’s vision is for all communities to have access to high-quality, sustainable transport that meets their needs, improves quality of life, reduces inequality, and supports a vibrant, productive and decarbonised economy. Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust is a registered charity (1101929).