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Arriva boss warns that falling bus journeys could lead to higher levels of congestion

One of Arriva’s bosses has warned that the declining use of buses will lead to greater levels of congestion and pollution.

This comes after the Department for Transport released figures last week showed that there were 85 million fewer individual bus passenger journeys across the country than in 2017.

Oliver Monahan, area managing director of Arriva Buses for Kent and Surrey is concerned that this steady decline will have a damaging effect on people’s health.

“Fewer people using buses means more on-street congestion which means poorer air quality.”

He added that investment in his buses is the main reason why the region saw any growth.

“As bus operators, we are working really hard to promote and encourage bus travel.

“Every Arriva bus in Kent now carries contactless. We’ve really worked hard to get that delivered quickly.”

This followed a general trend that started over a decade ago, where buses are being used less and less by the public every year.

Kent and the rest of the South-East are one of only two regions in the country to have seen an increase in bus passenger journeys over the past decade.

Meanwhile, London makes up more than half of all bus journeys for the country, but even in the capital, the number of journeys is down on the previous year.

(Punctuality of buses nationally)

The South East and South West were the only regions that saw any passenger growth over the past decade.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said cuts to bus services had had a “devastating impact”.

“People are being denied opportunities in work and education and are cut off from friends and family, particularly those in rural areas or from low-income backgrounds,” he said.

“At the same time, cutting and withdrawing services is worsening congestion, air pollution and our impact on climate change.”

People took to Twitter to ask whether any further funding for buses would come from.