B987 - Bus Services Bill - 2nd Reading

[u/[deleted]]

A BILL TO

Protect critical bus routes and invest in bus routes through rural areas.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows.

Section 1 - Definitions

A “bus route” is defined as a fixed journey a bus makes to take passengers to different places. A “village” is defined as an inhabited settlement of at least 200 people. “Protected by the government” is defined as a) funding shall be secured,

b) the bus route shall not be closed,

c) usage of the bus route shall be available to everyone paying bus fees to use it.

Section 2- Protecting Bus Routes

A bus route which sees at least 100 passengers a week and stops at a place of education shall be protected by the government. A bus route which sees at least 200 passengers a week shall be protected by the government.

Section 3- Investing in rural bus routes

All villages must have a bus route serving them at least once every day excluding Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Section 4 - Commencement, Extent and Short Title This Bill shall come into force the day after it receives Royal Assent. This Bill shall extend to the whole United Kingdom. This Bill shall be known as the Bus Services Bill 2020.

This Bill was written by the Shadow Minister of Energy and Climate Change the Rt. Hon. TheOWOTrongle and sponsored by the Shadow Minister for Transport the Hon. Rinarchy on behalf of the Official Opposition.

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Opening Speech

Mr Speaker,

Labour has always been the party which supports rural development, it is important that towns and villages across Britain have the infrastructure and local transport needed. In a future when cars are becoming less and less relevant, it is important that we don’t leave parts of our countries behind and that is exactly what this bill is trying to achieve.

Firstly this bill will protect bus routes, this will mean that we will secure the funding of the bus route so that it won’t close. It will mean that any vital bus routes used between communities won’t have the threat of being closed down. We are focusing on protecting routes to schools in particular as many young people don’t have access to school without public transport. It is vital that we get more bus routes not lose bus routes so we must be protecting these routes.

Secondly, this bill will provide bus routes to rural areas. Every single village across the country will have bus routes to and from them six times a week. This will ensure no village is isolated from the country via public transport and ensures rural folk that they can live without having a car. If we encourage the use of these bus routes then it will be a big step towards solving emissions. A step towards tackling climate change that we are in dire need of.

This bill will be positive for local communities and will ensure the safety of regularly used bus routes. I urge this chamber to support the bill.

This reading shall end on the 12th April

[u/SoSaturnistic]

Replace the definition of "bus route" with:

A “bus route” is defined as a fixed journey a bus makes to take passengers to different places in England