Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage local authorities to construct busways, and what is their latest estimate of the cost per mile of new busways.

It is for local authorities to decide how best to deal with the transport issues in their areas. Should they decide that a Busway is the solution they wish to implement they would need to undertake the necessary design and obtain legal orders. Should they require government funding they should submit a bid through the Local Growth Fund process in conjunction with their Local Enterprise Partnership.

We do not have an estimate of the cost per mile of new busways. The last two schemes approved by the Government have been Cambridgeshire Guided Bus (42km, both guided and on-road, costing £180m) and Luton Guided Bus (7.2km of on and off road at a total cost of £89.2m).