Does Hull really want to be the motor capital of Britain? A gas guzzling city unable to wean itself off the private vehicle? When I learned of proposals to allow cars to drive in bus lanes at off-peak hours, I was dismayed. Not simply because it will slow down the services we deliver at East Yorkshire Buses but because it will put Hull in reverse gear compared to the rest of the country.

Across much of the UK, bus priority is being extended. The Government wants to encourage people to use buses more – because they are the only sensible long-term transport solution to chronic congestion, pollution and climate change.

A double-decker bus can take 75 cars off the road, and every 1 per cent improvement in bus speeds attracts a 1 per cent uplift in passengers. So quicker buses will ultimately mean fewer cars, and relief from traffic jams.

The Government’s National Bus Strategy has provided £1.4bn of funding for local authorities with the smartest schemes to encourage people onto buses – including 24-hour bus lanes, traffic light priority, better bus stops and co-ordination on roadworks. Cities stretching from Brighton to Newcastle have set out creative, imaginative plans to devote more road space to buses. In Oxford, the local authority is working on changing road layouts to speed up buses by 10 per cent - an improvement that will unlock millions of pounds of investment by operators in zero emission electric buses. Leicester has just unveiled a £3m plan to extend bus lanes and in London, every major road has bus priority around the clock.

Ben Gilligan is managing director of East Yorkshire Buses.

It would be a great shame if Hull went in the opposite direction by deciding that bus lanes, which have been operating during peak and off peak hours since summer 2020, should only be enforced during the rush hour. It will be a seriously retrograde step that will throw away the gains we have made over the last two years and will prompt people to turn away from public transport, towards cars.

Prior to the pandemic, bus speeds nationally were decreasing by 1 per cent annually – hardly surprising, then, that it was a struggle to get people on board. We’ve got better since 2019 – and our customers have noticed.

If, as a country, we are serious about net zero carbon by 2050, we need to find ways of encouraging people to get out of their cars and to switch to more sustainable forms of transport. The Government’s Climate Change Committee has calculated that 17 per cent of car journeys must be switched to walking, cycling or public transport – otherwise our environmental aspirations will be dashed.

The Go-Ahead Group, which owns East Yorkshire Buses, regularly surveys people who don’t use buses on what’s deterring them. Punctuality is the overwhelming reason – 33 per cent say they worry about having to wait too long, and 26 per cent feel there is ‘no guarantee’ they will get to their destination on time. Cutting back bus lanes, and slowing down buses will only make those perceptions worse and will make it harder to achieve the change in habits we need as a society.

Some have argued that bus lanes should be replaced by dedicated cycle lanes. And I am pro-cycling – walking, cycling and public transport are all part of a sustainable solution. But we need to be honest: a bicycle isn’t appropriate for every journey.

If bus lanes are cut back in Hull, you might as well hang a sign over our city saying ‘net zero – no thanks’.

Ben Gilligan is managing director of East Yorkshire Buses.

Why cutting back bus lanes will put Hull in reverse gear - Ben Gilligan