Better Transport

Local transport authorities are responsible for public transport within their area. They will probably be the main, if not the only, target for your campaigning.

Local transport authorities have limited resources and are responsible for a range of services, which means they are dealing with competing demands for their limited budgets. That means your local authority may need encouragement from you to make ambitious plans to improve buses in your area.

Local councillors tend to hear a lot about the problems of driving in the area, and some might assume that the voters who elected them drive all the time, and therefore buses don't matter.

Local authorities have legal duties which relate to transport. You can point out that improving buses will help them fulfil their duties.

County councils and unitary authorities are transport authorities. In metropolitan areas, passenger transport executives are the transport authorities and in London, it’s Transport for London.

Not all local transport authorities are the same:

• Passenger Transport Executives (or Integrated Transport Authorities) cover a greater area than other transport authorities and they also have more money to spend on public transport than county councils or unitary authorities. They also tend to have more political will to improve buses. Passenger transport executives are not the local highways authorities in their areas – they are responsible for providing public transport but they have no responsibility for, or powers over, how local roads and traffic are managed. Individual local councils within the PTE area are the highways authorities, so they are responsible for issues such as whether the road network should include bus lanes. Since the Local Transport Act, PTEs/ITAs have a duty to promote the well-being of people in their area.
• Unitary authorities also spend more money on buses, perhaps because they tend to be in cities, where more people use buses. They are also the local highway authority for their area
• County councils tend to cover more rural areas where people drive more, and population densities are lower. Therefore it can be a bigger challenge for these councils to secure comprehensive bus services. They are the local highway authority for their area.

In some areas, there are district or borough councils who could help you make your case to the transport authority. As well, there are town, parish or community councils. Again, getting these people on your side will strengthen your case and help you influence the transport authority. 

• Local transport authorities 
• Bus companies
• Department for Transport 
• Traffic commissioners
• Passenger Focus 
• Bus Users UK
• Bus Appeals Body 
• Local strategic partnerships