Member

Here, I mention demand-responsive transport as one way in which buses and bus services can adapt to be relevant, flexible and appropriate in future. When I raised this at Second Reading, the Minister responded in an almost affronted way and said words to the effect that demand-responsive transport ran like a golden thread through the Bill—or something like that. I was embarrassed at the time because I thought, “How did I miss this? How, in my perusal of the Bill, have I missed the frequent references to demand-responsive transport and things like it?” Of course, when I went away after Second Reading to look, they were not there at all, so this is at least one attempt to get that sort of flexibility in the Bill, so that local transport authorities start thinking about alternatives to the traditional fixed-route method.