Nov-2024

Report conducts an analysis on a national bus user survey to determine what bus passengers find most important to a good bus journey. The report recommends further use of franchising and enhanced bus partnerships, alongside work by local authorities to enforce measures to speed up buses to ensure they quickly and on time. The report also recommends reviews of operational and ticketing arrangements to reduce dwell time and reduce cancellations. 

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Nov-2024

Report advocating for changes to be made to the way buses are funded. The report recommends that funding should be allocated on the basis of need to reduce the funding gap between authorities, that there should be a bus service guarantee, with support provided to local authorities to ensure that it can be delivered, for long term, multi-modal funding settlements for all LTAs, to transfer all bus-related funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Department for Transport, and ensure it is ringfenced and transparent and requiring NHS trusts to coordinate transport provision with authorities, bus operators and community transport operators.

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Feb-2024

A manifesto produced to communicate demands for improved buses. Points include: decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing reliability, affordability and attractiveness of bus services, staying in touch with requirements of users, taking a cross-departmental approach to transport provision, improving accessibility, inclusivity and transparency, making fares simpler and fairer, lifting restrictions on concessionary tickets, and updating the law to make transport provision a socially necessary service, along with ring-fenced funding. 

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Dec-2023

Research conducted into the experience, technical expertise and resources available to Local Transport Authorities for the purposes of achieving the goals set out in the Bus Back Better Report. Study finds that there a number of issues in this aspect relating to lack of staff, especially in smaller LTAs, difficulties in the structure and knowledge of organisations and a reliance on short-term funding and outsourcing.

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Oct-2023

Report on the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the amount of concessionary travel taking place. Report notes a significant reduction (up to a third) in passholder journeys, with elderly people particularly affected. Additionally, whilst there was a decline of 2.6% in active passholders between 2019 and 2022, rural active passholders increased by 1.6%.

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Oct-2023

Report advocating for a reform of rail fares and ticketing to make travelling by rail more affordable, accessible and appealing. The report lays out a series of reforms to be made, and advocates for an arms-length body to be established to execute them. 

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Jul-2023

Report into how older and disabled free bus pass holders may be encouraged to use buses, conducted in the context of the significant drop in concessionary use that occurred post-pandemic. The report suggests two possible reasons for this decline. The first is that concessionary users are simply getting out less due to the cost of living crisis and high street closures. The second suggests that the decline is patronage is due to a decline in bus services. The report claims that coronavirus plays a limited factor in dissuading bus use, with only 7% concerned about catching the virus due to using the bus.

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Jun-2023

Study into why people do or do not use buses. Report finds that there is a sizeable group of people who have not returned to bus use post-pandemic, buses are perceived as inconvenient, there is some interest in more bus use, the £2 cap for buses provided value-for-money for many users, and a lack of knowledge about services discourages many users.

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Aug-2022

Two reports studying the implementation of a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot schemes in Denbigh, Pembrokeshire, Conwy Valley and Newport. Interviews were conducted with passengers, potential passengers, operators and local authorities.

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Jun-2022

Report in the funding of bus services. Report notes the severe impact the pandemic has had on the provision of bus services. Suggests that the current strategy has produced funding gaps, as LTAs with smaller transport teams are less capable of applying for funding. Report suggests ways this may be remedied, but ultimately recommends a substantial increase in funding for bus services.

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Sep-2021

Report into post-pandemic recovery for buses, uses models to predict different scenarios for growth in passenger volumes and vehicle kilometres after the pandemic. Advocates for funding reform to keep pace with transformation being brought forward by post-pandemic improvements. 

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Sep-2021

Report into how the Bus Back Better strategy might be achieved. The report finds that the capacity and capability to deliver the strategy varies greatly between authorities, that it is unclear how zero emission vehicle standards will be enforced in local authorities which have enhanced partnerships, that there is uncertainty about funding cycles, making local authorities postpone investment decisions and that there are gaps in knowledge concerning the acquisition of zero emission buses.

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Jun-2021

Report aiming to understand how perceptions and experiences of bus passengers have changed as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Focuses on three user groups: Current users, Former Users, and Non-Users.    

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May-21

Report researching passenger attitudes towards cleanliness on public transport. Report written in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Makes recommendations for operators as to how they can improve cleanliness and perceptions of cleanliness on their services.

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Apr-2021

Study analysing the results of a 5000 person passenger survey into attitudes towards how busy public transport services are. Provides recommendations towards providing information about how busy services are to allow passengers, to allow them to make decisions about when and how they travel. 

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Leaflet produced by a collection of advocacy groups advocating for greener transport, specifically active and public transport modes. Priorities are communication of benefits of active and public transport, creation of opportunities for collaboration and innovation in the transport sector, and the collection of partners and evidence for transport progress in the build up towards the (then) upcoming Cop26.

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Feb-2020

Report develops the idea of transport deserts  by identifying areas in which transport provision in very low. The report acknowledges that it has a light touch, and recommends future research into the extent to which these towns are self-sufficient, the usefulness of existing transport services, correlation with demographic and deprivation data, and the extent and quality of active travel infrastructure. 

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Feb-2020

Study into what bus passengers consider to be important for improving buses. Key areas were: Buses arriving on time, buses going to more places, value for money, faster journey times, tackling antisocial behaviour and improving passenger information. 

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Dec-2019

Report concerning the issues facing rural bus travel and potential solutions. The report highlights the decline in bus use, noting people who use rural bus services largely do so because it is the only option, or because it is free via concessionary tickets and that there was a need to improve rural bus services, or risk serious social impacts upon these users.

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Oct-2019

Report concerning how to improve the funding of buses, published pre-pandemic. Report highlights significant decreases in local funding for buses over a 10 year period, alongside a long term decline in passenger volumes.

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