Thread by @Bassam_Khawaja

THREAD: Today we launched our first report on what happens when a government privatizes a vital service. We investigated the deregulated UK bus system and found it expensive and dysfunctional—with severe impacts on people's rights. chrgj.org/2021/07/19/pre… #PeopleOverProfit

The report finds that many people have lost jobs and benefits, faced barriers to healthcare, been forced to give up on education, sacrificed food and utilities, and been cut off from friends and family because of a costly, fragmented, and inadequate service that has failed them.

Why buses? They're an essential service, accounting for some 4.5 billion journeys per year in Britain. They boost economic growth, alleviate poverty, realize many rights, and reduce greenhouse gases. People depend on them to get to work, healthcare, and see loved ones.

Over the past 35 years, deregulation has provided a master class in how not to run an essential public service, leaving residents at the mercy of private actors who have total discretion over how to run a bus route, or whether to run one at all. Today, the system is in crisis.

The government’s own words speak for themselves. Here’s a comparison of what Margaret Thatcher’s government promised privatization would bring in 1984 and the current government’s assessment of the system in England today: chrgj.org/wp-content/upl…

Britain’s best-known buses are undoubtedly London’s red double-deckers—but this report isn’t about them! That highly regulated system is a real outlier. In the rest of England, Scotland, and Wales, Thatcher’s government imposed an extreme form of privatization and deregulation.

It banned new municipal bus companies, and left it to private operators to decide which routes to run and how much to charge. The system is almost unique among wealthy countries.

It turns out this is a terrible way to run a vital service. Private companies make decisions based on their bottom line—not what the public needs. They extract profits instead of reinvesting them and have cut thousands of unprofitable but necessary routes—leaving people stranded.

Passengers described a broken system of fragmented services that aren't connected, routes disappearing overnight, buses that don't get you where you need to go, unaccountable operators, and poor information. Average fares have skyrocketed, while ridership has plummeted.

We found that bus service failures have restricted access to work, education, healthcare, and food. This has been especially severe for low-income people or those in poverty, as well as those in rural areas, older people, women, and people with disabilities.

.@BorisJohnson has a new national bus strategy for England, but it fails to address the fundamental problem. It continues to put private interests ahead of public ones, and offers lackluster half-measures that prop up a failing, privatized system. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

There's a better way to do this. Public control or ownership would allow for reinvestment of profits, integrated networks, more efficient coverage, simpler fares, consistency with climate goals, and public accountability. It’s also a more cost-effective approach.

The regulated system in London, and municipally owned operators in Nottingham, Reading, and Edinburgh—not to mention public services in Northern Ireland—all provide an important counterexample of what is possible.

Some amazing organizations including @ABCommuters, @BetterBusesGM, @BetterBusesWY, @GetGlesgaMoving, and @We_OwnIt are pushing for public control and ownership of transportation. They’ve already won in Greater Manchester: manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-m…

The UK and devolved governments should abandon the notion that public transport can be left to the private market. They should legislate minimum service levels, overturn the ban on municipal bus companies, and throw their financial and political support behind public control.

This is one of the world’s richest countries—it can provide a world class service if it wants to. But it will require a fundamentally different approach.

Finally an enormous thank you to my co-authors @Rebecca_Riddell and @PhilipGAlston, and the 100+ people who took the time to speak with us for this report in the middle of a pandemic. It would not have been written without you.

We'll be speaking about the report with some amazing transport organizers on Wednesday July 21, at 7:00pm UK. You can sign up here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/britains-bus…

And I'm beyond delighted that the report has been endorsed by a wide coalition organizing for public control and ownership of bus services: getglasgowmoving.org/news/press-rel…

Some key numbers for those asking:
England: 3,000 bus routes cut in last decade, fares up 403% since 1987. Ridership down 38% outside London 1982-2016/17. Gov't covers 42% of funding despite privatization.
Scotland: Fares up 159.4% 1995- 2021. Ridership down 43% 1986/87-2019/20.

Fascinating to see some, including the Confederation of Passenger Transport, still peddling the myth that privatization shields the public from financial risk. It's just not true! The gov't still pays billions per year—42% of bus funding in England. theguardian.com/politics/2021/…

During COVID, the government stepped in with hundreds of millions to support operators. Private companies reap the rewards while things are good—but the public is left holding the bag as soon as they take a turn for the worse. Privatization is expensive! urbantransportgroup.org/system/files/g…