Pteg, the lobbying group representing the six passenger transport executives, says that without intervention by its members there could be a further decline in bus patronage and services in the city regions and fares increases of 24% above inflation. The warnings come in a report PTEG commissioned from MVA, the transport consultancy owned by state-owned Paris transport operator RATP, that looked at the possible impact of government cuts to local government funding and wider support for bus services. It forecasts that between 2009 and 2014, bus patronage will decline by 20%, fares will increase by 24% above inflation and service kilometres will decline by 19%. In turn, it says this will increase urban congestion costs by £68million. These figures are based on Department for Transport statistics showing that bus patronage in the six metropolitan areas fell by 2.9% over the past year.
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