Written questions by Mayer.

How many open access applications (a) were approved in 2024 and (b) are awaiting a decision from the Office of Rail and Road.

The Office of Rail and Road has confirmed to us that in 2024 they approved 2 applications from Open Access operators to provide completely new services and approved a further 8 applications from existing Open Access operators to either continue or make small-scale amendments to existing services.The Office of Rail and Road is currently considering 13 applications from Open Access operators. Details of all decisions and live applications are published on the Office of Rail and Road’s website.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of local authorities franchising bus services on smaller bus operators.

The Bus Services Act 2017 contains a duty for local authorities to make a statement on how they will facilitate participation from small and medium sized operators in service provision as part of the franchising process.The Department, as part of the Impact Assessment for the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, has considered the potential effects of franchising; this includes the effect on small-to-medium-sized operators.The Department is also providing support and guidance to authorities considering franchising and we will continue working with local authorities to develop different franchising models that could be smaller scale, require less financial commitment and support participation from a range of operators.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20346 on Bus Services: ICT, if she will take steps to ensure all new buses include charging points.

The government is committed to delivering better bus services, and wants to make them a strong choice for passengers. Local bus operators have responsibility for managing and maintaining their bus fleets, and we expect them to consider how best to improve the experience for passengers when making decisions about their fleet, including considering making charging points available to passengers on their buses.

What estimate she has made of the proportion of rail journeys eligible for discounts through the 2025 Rail Sale.

Over two million tickets at discounts of up to 50 per cent are available for purchase as part of the Rail Sale. Train operating companies have decided on a commercial basis, the proportion of tickets available at discounted prices on their services.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the roll out of the Bus Open Data Service.

The Bus Open Data Service (BODS) was launched in 2020 and requires all bus operators of local services in England to provide passengers with high-quality, accurate and up-to-date passenger information including timetables, fares, tickets and vehicle location information. 85% of bus operators in England have provided timetable, vehicle location and fares data to BODS. The government is committed to delivering better bus services, and part of this work is improving the information available to passengers about their bus services. Regulations like those for Bus Open Data therefore form an important part of the Department’s efforts to ensure passengers have access to high quality bus services, including up to date, reliable information on where services are. Publishing this data openly provides choice to parents, students and commuters in which apps they use for bus tracking, causing passengers to spend less time waiting at bus stops and helping to ensure they arrive at school or their workplace on time. Local authorities and bus operators also have better information on the punctuality and reliability of buses operating to provide school transport or home to work transport in their areas.

What data her Department holds on the number of bus incidents where driver fatigue was identified as an issue in (a) 2024 and (b) the last five years for which data is available.

The Department publishes statistics on road collisions and casualties involving personal injury reported by police via the data collection system known as STATS19.Within this system, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 factors which, in their opinion, may have contributed to the collision. Please note that this does not assign blame for the collision to any specific road user but gives an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the collision.The number of buses or coaches involved in collisions where the contributory factor ‘fatigue’ was assigned to the driver in each of the last 5 years for which data is available are shown in the table. Figures for 2024 are scheduled for publication in September 2025. YearBus/coach in reported road injury collision with contributory factor ‘fatigue’ assigned to driver2019132020720215202212202318

How many Public Service Vehicle operator licences were issued in each of the last five years for which data is available.

The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain collect annual data on the number of active and newly issued public service vehicle (PSV) operator licences and the vehicles authorised to operate under these licences. The number of new PSV operator licences issued in each of the last five years is as follows. Data for the reporting year ‘2024 – January 2025’ is accurate as of 14 January 2025. Reporting Year (April – March)Number of new PSV operator licences grantedNumber of vehicles authorised as a result of a new application2019/2047428102020/2131713232021/2226422922022/2331014632023/2436814512024 – January 20252731401

When the second stage of the process evaluation of the Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 will take place.

The Department recently published both stages 1 and 2 of the Active Travel Fund tranche 2 process evaluation. Active Travel England will continue to work with the University of Westminster and Sustrans to consider further evaluation of government investment in active travel and the impact of interventions to encourage more walking, wheeling and cycling.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a single Public Service Operator licence for each traffic area in England.

Under current arrangements, licensing for Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators in Great Britain is divided into eight traffic areas. No entity can hold more than one PSV licence in any single traffic area (except in the case of Special Restricted licences). This means that in effect an operator could hold a single PSV operator licence in each traffic area in England.

How many roads were closed during flooding in (a) Bedfordshire, (b) the East of England and (c) nationally in (i) 2024 and (ii) the latest period for which data is available.

The Department recognises the profound importance of our country’s road network in moving people, goods, and services around the country. The impact of closing roads will vary greatly depending on the roads in question and on the scale and severity of the flooding. The Government does not keep centralised lists of local road closures during periods of severe weather and flooding, either in Bedfordshire or nationally. These are matters for local highway authorities.Bedford Council and Central Bedfordshire Council, as the relevant local highway authorities for Bedfordshire, are responsible for the management of their respective local networks, including making operational network decisions in the event of severe weather events including flooding. On a national basis, management of the English highway network is the responsibility of over 150 highway authorities, who make operational decisions based on the scope and severity of severe weather affecting their area.

How many coaches were registered by the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain in (a) 2024 to date and (b) each of the last five years.

The Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) collects annual data on the number of active and newly issued public service vehicle (PSV) operator licences and the vehicles authorised to operate under these licences. Coach operators are required to hold a valid PSV licence to operate in the UK. The PSV licence data covers both bus and coach operators and does not distinguish between the two. The number of PSV operator licences and vehicles authorised to operate under these licences from 2024 to date: Reporting Year (to date)Number of valid PSV operator licencesNumber of vehicles authorisedApril 2024 - January 2025546588992 Reporting Year (to date)Number of new PSV operator licences grantedNumber of vehicles authorised as a result of a new applicationApril 2024 - January 20252661386 The figures for the number of PSV operator licences and the vehicles authorised to operate under these licences for the last five years: Reporting year (April to March)Number of valid PSV operator licencesNumber of vehicles authorised2019-206852908652020-216602899802021-226158885822022-235809863712023-245451886642024-January 2025546588992 Reporting Year (April – March)Number of new PSV operator licences grantedNumber of vehicles authorised as a result of a new application2019-2047428102020-2131713232021-2226422922022-2331014632023-2436814512024-January 20252661386

What discussions her Department has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on reforms to the Bus Service Operators Grant.

We are committed to simplifying and consolidating bus funding from the Government, and we are considering next steps for reform of the Bus Service Operators Grant as part of this work. This will include engagement with other government departments.

Whether her Department issues guidance to local authorities on running good-quality bus stops.

The Department for Transport has published Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/24 Bus User Priority which provides guidance on good practice in the design of bus stops. The Department has also published guidance to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) and bus oper...

If she will make an estimate of recent trends in the number of coach companies that have ceased trading.

The Department recognises the importance of good transport links and this Government aims to improve connections between towns and cities across the country. We recognise the important role the coach sector can play in making these connections across the ...

What discussions she has had with Shadow Great British Railways on future management of the 20 railway stations directly managed by Network Rail.

The Secretary of State has not yet held any conversations with Shadow Great British Railways on the future management of stations. The government has set Shadow Great British Railways several initial priorities, including being passenger focused - improvi...

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding for British Transport Police.

The British Transport Police’s (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). It is the executive non-departmental public body that oversees the Force and is their employer. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals fr...

Which areas has her Department provided additional funding for to develop Mobility as a Service apps; and what the potential cost to the public purse is of this work.

The Transport Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme, which funds proof of concept projects to either fail fast or uncover early promise across the whole transport technology spectrum, has given funding of a total value of £289k to projects related to Mobilit...

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle changes in average bus speeds.

The government is committed to working with local transport authorities and the bus sector to deliver better, more reliable services for passengers. At the Budget, the government confirmed over £1 billion in funding to improve bus services, protect vital ...

How much funding her Department provided for retrofitting buses to reduce emissions under (a) the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme and (b) other relevant schemes in 2024.

Since 2017, the Government allocated approximately £100m toward the retrofitting of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology. The Government has not provided any funding for the retrofitting of SCR technology in 2024.

What data her Department holds on how many and what proportion of buses have onboard connections for electronic devices in England.

As of March 2024, there were 29,790 buses used by local bus operators in England. Around 28% of these buses, approximately 8,300, were equipped with charging points.