The issue of transport poverty and the lack of rural bus services across the UK was discussed on a national radio programme.
LBC Radio host Sangita Myska was looking into the disparity of transport funding between urban and rural areas.
The discussion came as a report commissioned by the County Councils Network found that the majority of the £1.1 billion of extra funding given by the government for bus networks went to urban areas.
Listeners of the show phoned in to share their experiences, including one frustrated listener who said “Some villages on the outskirts of Ipswich have no service at all”.
As a company that helps to alleviate transport issues faced by many people in rural areas, particularly those workers looking to commute, we were asked to speak on the programme and share our experience.
Our Head of Marketing, Emma Thomas, spoke to Sangita on Sunday 23rd July 2023.
Sangita asked Emma “Why do you believe public services have got into the kind of state they have - especially in rural areas” to which Emma replied:
“Between 2012-2022, there have been around 5000 bus services cut which does have an impact on the people obviously struggling to get to work without having their own car. Even before the cost of living crisis that we have at the moment which is also having a big impact, public transport can be unavailable for a lot of people across the country. So it leaves people in a really difficult position - they either have to own their own car, which obviously is getting a lot more expensive, or they are just not able to get to work.”
“I can give you an example of someone we met in the early days of starting our company, RideTandem. A lady called Collette who lives just on the outside of Liverpool in Skelmersdale, she works as a cleaner and every day she is facing an awful commute. The job that she has to go to is too far to walk, there’s no viable public transport option for her to use and she can't afford to own her own car. So to get to work every day she is taking a taxi back and forward which means that her first hour's wage was being spent on getting to work and her last hour of wages was spent getting back home. She is one person but that is representative of a lot of people across the UK who are living in these areas.”
You can tune into the full playback of the show here (our section begins at around 2hours 20 minutes):
https://www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/uk/episodes/2zGp3YaKqAtoKXwaJNj9YF5Emv/
