Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number and proportion of buses in Kent and Medway that are able to provide audio-visual announcements; and whether he plans to provide funding to increase the number of buses equipped for such announcements.

In 2021/22, 25% of buses in England outside of London were equipped to provide audio-visual information. We do not hold more granular information, such as statistics specific to Kent and Medway.

We plan to require the provision of audible and visible information on local bus and coach services across Great Britain and intend to introduce the Accessible Information Regulations.

We have allocated £3.55m to the Real Time Information Group, who will be supporting small operators with the upfront costs of the planned Regulations.

The 2021 National Bus Strategy requires all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London to produce Bus Service Improvement Plans. Our Guidance created to support LTAs with the development of these plans recommends that buses offer end to end accessibility, by for example, offering onboard accessible information.

We have also required buses funded through the government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme to provide audible and visible information as standard.