Stagecoach East backs Peterborough Mayor’s bus plans

Mayor Johnson proposes to use the £11m raised by his mayoral precept at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to introduce 30 major changes in all parts of the county to encourage better use of buses.

Darren Roe, Managing Director of Stagecoach East said: “This is another great initiative for our customers, we welcome these improvements to the network and are working with the Combined Authority to understand the detail.

“The Mayor is keen to introduce a £1.00 fare for under 25's. We will very much need to see the detail of this and understand how the scheme will work in practice – for example, it will need some form of ID card and there are important questions around what the new timetables will look like, so we can then figure out how many drivers and vehicles will be required. But, in general we are very supportive of all such initiatives to encourage increased bus usage.

“We will continue to raise the matter of congestion because it is crucial to the future of the bus network. Congestion inevitably leads to customers’ frustrations that journey times are extended and services cancelled, and this is a dauting challenge for all the elected officials to deal with, but those difficult decisions will need to be taken. It is not going away and will only get worse.”