Better Transport

Bus journeys need to be improved and the Government needs to provide national leadership and support to help ensure they are.

Journeys need to be improved
We’d like to see the following. If you would too, why not support our work or help us campaign?

Bus services need to be:

• Reliable and punctual, with well-enforced priority over other traffic where necessary
• Frequent, including through high-frequency services being well integrated with less frequent local networks
• Affordable. One way is by allowing a ticket to let you travel on the network, not just a route
• Accessible
• Well promoted so you can find out easily about buses in your area and where they go
• Adaptable, changing to serve new travel needs and new development

Bus services need to have:

• Good evening and weekend service
• Good connections with other bus routes and between buses and other transport
• Comfortable and secure waiting areas
• High-quality, well-trained staff

Buses should be supported by:

• Competition rules that allow public transport operators to provide area-wide tickets valid on all local buses and trains (we recently exposed passengers' suffering due to bus companies not cooperating)
• Pro-bus policies at a local level – for example, traffic management polices that manage and price car use properly and give priority to buses, through realistic on- and off-street parking charges and control, car-free or bus-only areas and priority bus lanes
• Planning policies that promote high-density development and locate development where it can easily be served by buses

Some bus services are meeting many of these requirements; many more should be.

Government should set minimum standards
The Government should set minimum standards for bus operators and local authorities. For example:

• Local authorities would have to meet standards on bus facilities
• Bus operators would have to meet standards on customer service and vehicle standards

A passenger watchdog for bus users should be created
We need an independent, statutory, government-funded passenger watchdog for bus users. The bus industry was the only utility to be privatised without the parallel creation of a passenger watchdog. While there is a bus appeals body already, it is funded and hosted by the bus industry.

A watchdog would deal with bus users' concerns about fares, frequencies, timetables, accessibility, journey times, security, vehicle standards and information. Traffic Commissioners (the regulator for the bus industry) need more staff and funding so they can take effective action on these issues.

In October 2007, 14 other organisations joined us in calling on the Government to create a passenger watchdog.

Local campaigners are doing a great deal to improve bus services -- often with success! Find local campaigners in your area.