Greens to call for ‘a boost for buses’ to breathe life into struggling communities and ease the affordability crisis. 

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Green Party leader Zack Polanski on a campaign visit to Newcastle today, will say that the experiment on bus privatisation has been an unmitigated disaster, and Green councillors will fight to bring back buses into public control. 

The Greens will make bus fares free for all people under 22 years, and Zack Polanski will say that reliable and accessible public transport is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to help tackle both the cost-of-living crisis and climate crisis.  

Buses are the most used form of public transport in England, but usage has taken a huge and sustained drop recently, down from 4.6 billion journeys in 2009 to 3.6 billion in 2024.

Zack Polanski will say that,  

“Years of deregulation have led to soaring fares, unreliable services and cut routes. Bus privatisation has been an unmitigated disaster. We need to bring buses back into public control so that local councils, who know what their communities need best, can put a ceiling on how much can be charged and make sure their communities are well served.  Spiralling transport costs is one of the greatest causes of the affordability crisis and lack of services and the expense of fares affects rural communities in particular. 

“Electing Green councillors will help end this and herald in a new age of the bus, to help rebuild our struggling high streets and boost our communities.” 

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Greens to call for ‘a boost for buses’ to breathe life into struggling communities and ease the affordability crisis. 

image_pdfimage_print

Green Party leader Zack Polanski on a campaign visit to Newcastle today, will say that the experiment on bus privatisation has been an unmitigated disaster, and Green councillors will fight to bring back buses into public control. 

The Greens will make bus fares free for all people under 22 years, and Zack Polanski will say that reliable and accessible public transport is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to help tackle both the cost-of-living crisis and climate crisis.  

Buses are the most used form of public transport in England, but usage has taken a huge and sustained drop recently, down from 4.6 billion journeys in 2009 to 3.6 billion in 2024.

Zack Polanski will say that,  

“Years of deregulation have led to soaring fares, unreliable services and cut routes. Bus privatisation has been an unmitigated disaster. We need to bring buses back into public control so that local councils, who know what their communities need best, can put a ceiling on how much can be charged and make sure their communities are well served.  Spiralling transport costs is one of the greatest causes of the affordability crisis and lack of services and the expense of fares affects rural communities in particular. 

“Electing Green councillors will help end this and herald in a new age of the bus, to help rebuild our struggling high streets and boost our communities.” 

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Government concludes seventh-day arrangements for Wang Fuk Court residents returning to their units (with photos)

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     Today (April 26) is the seventh day of phased arrangements for residents of seven blocks of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to return to their units. Five middle-zone floors of Wang Cheong House and 10 low-zone floors of Wang Tao House were opened. The access arrangements were carried out in an orderly manner and operated smoothly.

     A total of 116 households (418 people) registered to return to their units today through the “one social worker per household” service, while 116 households (424 people) actually turned up.

     The average time residents spent entering and leaving the building today was two hours and 26 minutes, with the shortest time being 21 minutes and the longest three hours and 56 minutes. About 77 per cent of the residents stayed in the building for less than three hours. About 26 per cent of the residents stayed in the building for less than two hours. About 4 per cent of the residents stayed in the building for less than one hour.
      
     A total of 62 households (151 people) went up and down the building more than once. Among them, 18 households (64 people) made one additional trip, 22 households (46 people) made two additional trips, 11 households (20 people) made three additional trips, 5 households (12 people) made four additional trips, 5 households (8 people) made five additional trips, and 1 household (1 person) made six additional trips.

     The integrated enquiry counter set up by relevant departments today received 7 cases requesting police assistance and 1 case involving residents seeking help due to physical discomfort, as well as 1 case seeking psychological counselling services.
      
     The 7 cases requesting police assistance involved suspected loss of property, including watches, jewellery, cash and gold items. Officers were immediately deployed to assist in searches, and lost property was recovered in five cases. For the remaining two cases, the Police will make further investigation.

     The Government spares no effort in supporting the residents returning to their units. Each day, the Government deploys over 1 000 personnel from various departments, including the Police, the Civil Aid Service, the Fire Services Department, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Home Affairs Department, the Social Welfare Department (SWD), the Housing Department, and the Housing Bureau, as well as District Services and Community Care Teams members. The “Government-wide Mobilisation” mechanism has also been activated to bring together greater interdepartmental resources to support residents. 

     ​Under the “Government-wide Mobilisation” mechanism, the Civil Service Bureau has co-ordinated nine government departments to mobilise civil servants to form the Government Quick Response Unit to support these access arrangements. These civil servants come from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the Architectural Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), the Environmental Protection Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Lands Department (LandsD), the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), the Post Office, and the Water Supplies Department(WSD). They will form dedicated teams with social workers and clinical psychologists from the SWD, stationed on different floors to provide support to residents returning to their units. The civil servants mobilised in the first three days were from the AFCD, those mobilised from the fourth day to the sixth day are from the EMSD and the LCSD, while those mobilised from the seventh day to the ninth day (including today) are from the LandsD and the WSD.

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