来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2022年12月22日
The UK government was slower than several of its European counterparts to realise it. But making public transport cheaper is a good policy that can be expected to deliver multiple benefits. The announcement earlier this week that bus companies in England will be subsidised to cap local fares at £2 for three months, from January to March, is very welcome. It should make life a bit easier for the millions of people who rely on buses to travel to work and for other journeys. Many of them are facing a painful squeeze on their finances due to rising fuel and food prices.
英国政府在意识到这一点方面比几个欧洲国家要慢。但降低公共交通成本是一项有望带来多重好处的好政策。本周早些时候，英国政府宣布，在1月至3月的三个月里，英国公交公司将获得补贴，当地票价上限为2英镑，这一消息非常受欢迎。对于数百万依赖公共汽车上班或出行的人来说，这应该会让他们的生活更轻松一些。由于燃料和食品价格上涨，他们中的许多人正面临着痛苦的支出紧缩。
If the subsidy persuades people to travel by bus instead of by car, as ministers hope and expect, it will also have a beneficial effect on the environment. Car journeys are a hugely significant source of carbon emissions and localised air pollution, with 91% of the UK’s total transport emissions coming from roads. When more people use buses and bicycles, rather than cars, congestion and journey times are reduced. With single bus fares as high as £5 in some rural areas, people have been strongly incentivised to use cars, particularly when travelling in groups. Change in this destructive state of affairs is long overdue. If energy costs have forced ministers to act, it is better late than never. Reduced demand for petrol could also contribute to lowering inflation.
如果像部长们所希望和期待的那样，这项补贴能促使人们乘公共汽车而不是私家车出行，它也将对环境产生有益的影响。私家车旅行是碳排放和小范围空气污染的一个非常重要的来源，英国91%的交通排放来自公路。当更多的人使用公共汽车和自行车而不是私家车时，拥堵和旅行时间都会减少。在一些农村地区，单程公交车的票价高达5英镑，这无疑是强烈鼓励人们使用私家车，特别是在集体旅行时。这种破坏性的状况早该改变了。如果能源成本迫使部长们采取行动，那么晚做总比不做好。汽油需求的减少也有助于降低通货膨胀。
For more than 30 years, since the bus service was privatised, London was the only place in England with regulated fares – a grossly unfair situation since people living elsewhere have the same need to move around at an affordable price. Imposing similar arrangements elsewhere should have been a no-brainer for a government committed to levelling up. But it was the Labour mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and West Yorkshire who acted first. All three areas already have the £2 cap now being introduced nationally.
自30多年前从公共汽车服务私有化以来，伦敦是英国唯一一个票价受管制的地方——这是一种非常不公平的情况，因为生活在其他地方的人也需要以负担得起的价格出行。对于一个致力于均衡发展的政府来说，在其他地方实施类似的做法应该是一件不用动脑筋的事情。但最先采取行动的是大曼彻斯特、利物浦和西约克郡的工党市长。这三个地区都已经先于全国有了2英镑的上限。
In Europe, discounted travel schemes were available this year on state-owned rail as well as bus services. Unfortunately, in Britain rail fares went up for inadequate services.
在欧洲，国有铁路和公共汽车服务今年都推出了旅游折扣计划。不幸的是，英国铁路票价因服务供给不足而上涨。
Germany’s three-month experiment with €9 tickets was credited with saving about 1.8m tonnes of CO2 emissions. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, has the most radical scheme of all. There, all public transport has been free to residents since 2013.
德国为期三个月的9欧元通票试验被认为减少了约180万吨二氧化碳排放。爱沙尼亚首都塔林的计划最为激进。自2013年以来，该市所有公共交通都对居民免费。
Past policy failures have left Britons more exposed than they needed to be to the current energy crisis. Had ministers more actively promoted a shift away from fossil-fuel-intensive transport and heating towards more sustainable energy sources and insulation, households would now be less vulnerable and more secure. But the £60m being spent on making buses cheaper will be money well spent.
过去的政策失败让英国人在当前的能源危机中承受比他们本该承受的损失更多。如果部长们更积极地推动从化石燃料密集型的交通和供暖转向更可持续的能源和保温，家庭现在就不会那么脆弱，也会更安全。但是，花费6000万英镑使公交票价更便宜，这笔钱花得很好。