Bodies like Centro-PTA need to be given greater powers over public transport in order to tackle global warming, an influential group of MPs has been told.

Cllr Tony Page and Cllr Shona Johnstone from the Local Government Association’s Environment Board spoke yesterday to the House of Commons Environmental Committee.

They told MPs that it would be “difficult nigh impossible” to increase public transport usage and improve air quality due to the deregulation of bus services outside London, pointing out that bus companies had their own agendas to follow and shareholders to look after.

There is therefore a need for enhanced powers for local authorities to deliver these sorts of improvements, the Committee was told.

“The sharpest decline in bus patronage has been in Public Transport Authority areas [such as the West Midlands] and therefore PTAs need more powers to secure more stability in the network,” Cllr Page said.

The West Midlands has, by far, the busiest bus network outside London, and, since deregulation in 1986, bus patronage has declined by 30 per cent, fares have risen by more than a quarter in real terms, and reliability is well below Government targets.

“Something needs to be done to turn this situation around. We need a new approach, such as that suggested yesterday, to deliver the bus services our big cities need and deserve,” says Cllr Clarke, Chairman of Centro-PTA.

At the committee meeting, Cllr Johnstone went on to tell MPs that transport policy needs to be more explicitly geared to emissions reductions with more encouragement of public transport.

She also said that there is a need for better integration of all forms of public transport, including better parking for bicycles at stations and integrated timetables.