Better Transport

To make sure your hard-fought wins to secure a better bus service are not lost later on, you might want to put some effort into securing some long-term improvements.  

Keep the bus service popular

• Encourage people to use the bus you’ve been fighting for. Talk to people about the bus and get them to tell their friends and family to use it. Give out leaflets, timetables and maps of the route to people in the area who might use the bus (ask the transport authority to support you by providing this information).

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Good idea: Stephen Law ran a successful campaign to get a bus service in Warwickshire reinstated. He then formed an action group to promote the service, and continued to monitor the buses to check that they were stopping where they should and meeting people's needs.
Read Stephen's campaigning tips

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• Write to the local newspaper about:
  • Victories in your campaign
  • The reasons why your bus service is important
  • The importance of buses in general
  • How many people are using the service (is it a success story?)
• Set up a campaigning group so you can reach out to people on a regular basis

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Good idea: To encourage others to use the bus, try to get good timetables displayed at bus stops. Peter Kay of C-BUS says local people can work with bus operators to make sure this happens. "The person responsible for timetables may lack detailed local knowledge because they are sitting in a head office miles away, and they may welcome your input. If not, it can be easier to just stick up timetables yourself!"

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Ask your local authority to encourage travel plans

Your transport authority should be considering how to increase bus use. Ask it what its plans are for doing so. You may wish to refer it to the Government's guide to travel planning (pdf, 1MB).