Better Buses Derbyshire

Better Buses Derbyshire

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Residents across Derbyshire have formed a coalition calling for Better Buses in Derbyshire. This is part of a national Campaign for Better Buses supported by the National Pensioners Convention, local bus campaigners, trade unions and climate groups.

Local campaigners are calling for:

• Guaranteed, adequate funding to make public transport the most efficient, reliable, attractive option.
• Bus franchising made easier to implement (as they have done in Greater Manchester) and the first step towards a return to full public ownership of bus services.
• Full public ownership of bus services to ensure people are put before profits
• Up to date and consistent advertising of public transport including full information and travel maps at bus stops.
• A regular, reliable, affordable, zero-emission bus network in every village and town in Derbyshire.

Buses are not only essential services for many but are urgently needed to meet carbon targets by replacing car journeys.

Research by Campaign for Better Transport found that more than one in four bus services in England (27 %) have been lost since 2012. In Derbyshire bus journeys per head of population more than halved between 2009/10 and 2021/22.

Derbyshire County Council received less than half (£47 million) of the £105 million they applied for from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan fund. This is not even enough to return passenger levels to 2018/19 levels within 5 years.

See a Chesterfield public transport map showing rail and bus routes and approximate times from Chesterfield.

The campaign protested against the lack of bus information, including printed timetables and information at bus-stops, in Bakewell on Saturday 6 April 2024.  See articles in the Derby Telegraph and the Derbyshire Times.  The group also did surveys of local passers-by on how frequently they used buses and the barriers stopping them using buses more.  Results of the survey an be found here with our recommendations.

The campaign held a day of action on Saturday 14th October 2023.  The protests staged in Chesterfield, Matlock and Bakewell, were joined by local representatives from the National Pensioners Convention, trade unions, climate groups (including Transition Chesterfield, XR and Derbyshire Climate Coalition), individuals, bus campaigners as well as local Councillors from the Labour and Green Parties.

See press coverage in the Derbyshire Times and on BBC East Midlands   and photos from the day below.