Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce private car ownership and improve the connectivity of public transport.

This Government recognises the importance of improving public transport to ensure that people have greater choice around how they travel and has recently confirmed its commitment to phasing out new cars that rely solely on internal combustion engines from 2030.

The Government have set out an ambitious programme of reform to help improve bus services and grow usage across the country. The Bus Services (No.2) Bill, introduced on 17 December, puts power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them. In the Autumn Budget, the Government also confirmed investment of over £1 billion to support and improve bus services and keep bus fares affordable.

The Government have also set out plans to create a unified and simplified railway that places train operations under public ownership and control, putting passengers first and rebuilding trust. The Railways Bill, which will be introduced later this session, will enable the biggest overhaul of the rail sector in a generation. Alongside this, the Prime Minister has announced more funding to deliver the largest rail investment in the North in decades.

As part of our commitment to local transport, we have uplifted City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding in 2025-26 by £200m, helping to improve the local transport in our largest city regions and drive growth and productivity across the country. This brings local transport spending for Metro Mayors in 2025-26 to £1.3bn. Also at the Autumn Budget, we allocated over £650m funding for local transport outside of our city regions to improve connectivity and support local growth in our smaller cities, towns, villages and rural areas in England outside London.

The Integrated National Transport Strategy will be published later this year and will focus on how transport should be designed, built, and operated to better serve the people who use it, connecting people to housing, jobs and public services.