Join our campaign: tell Oxfordshire County Council to take our buses under public control on 21st October.
Later this month, the Lib Dem County Council is deciding on the future of bus services across Oxfordshire.
Labour’s message to them is clear. We want local people to have more control over our buses, so fares, routes, and timetables can be set locally. This would mean buses are run for people, not just for profit.
Franchising systems like in London and Greater Manchester have helped to end complicated pricing systems, buses coming all at once or not at all, and decision-making based on profitability over local needs.
Make your voice heard. Back the campaign and sign our petition today at survey.labour.org.uk/backbetterbusespetition
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– Notes to editors –
Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, said: “The County Council acts as though the only way to improve our bus services is through a Congestion Charge. The Labour Government has passed measures which mean buses can be taken into public control more easily – giving local people control over routes, fares, and timetables, rather than this being driven by commercial decisions. On 21st October, the County Council will decide whether or not to use these powers to take public control over our buses. Please make your voice heard. Sign our petition today.”
Labour have been campaigning to take public control of our buses for months:
- www.oxfordlabour.org.uk/labour-backs-better-buses-for-oxfordshire/
- We initially launched a Better Buses survey in October 2024 to hear from residents living in the OX4 postcode: www.oxfordlabour.org.uk/oxford-labour-launches-better-buses-survey/
- Labour County Councillors got an extra £150,000 to the County Council’s 2024-25 budget for a feasibility and implementation strategy for bringing buses back under public control via a franchising system: www.oxfordlabour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/233/2024/02/Oxfordshire-Labour-budget-amendment-2024_25-press-release-1-1.pdf
Labour have been pushing alongside residents for a range of improvements, such as:
- The 3/3A bus routes will now be going all the way to the train station, serving residents living near the Iffley Road. View the petition here: www.change.org/BusToOxfordTrainStation
- A new network of minibuses to connect communities, serving the Greater Leys and Herschel Crescent in Littlemore, and restoring the original 46 bus route via Donnington Bridge to Cowley Centre. Sign the petition here: www.change.org/TemplarsSquareMinibuses.
- Better buses all around, not just for East and South Oxford but also North Oxford, Marston, and Headington (where just two buses an hour serve the train station)