Dec-2019

Investigation into how to better meet the needs of bus users who use buses that run on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). The report contains a number of recommendations for Highways England, including reducing dwell  times at stops, upgrading bus stops, considering how road closures may affect passengers - and in limited circumstances allowing for buses to use closed roads, and working with operators to better integrate with services running on adjacent roads. 

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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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Nov-2019

Report into how passengers spend their time on buses, and how this may influence satisfaction and possibility of future use. The report suggests that people value the way they spend their journey, therefore the bus industry should invest in the marketing and design of their buses.

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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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Oct-2019

Study into the factors driving change behind bus patronage. The policy implications drawn from the study are that cities have higher potential than towns and villages, deprivation correlates with bus use - therefore poverty reduction policies should be paired with policies that make bus use more attractive to avoid reductions in use and even the areas with highest potential are only just attaining it - likely due to decreases in funding. 

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Sep-2019

Report detailing and advocating for policy and fiscal interventions necessary for supporting buses. Report focuses on the increasing usage across the country, clarifying the path to zero emission buses, better integration with other forms of transport and increasing the use of technology to improve services.

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Sep-2019

Study investigating passengers' travel patterns through the lens of stability and mobility, developing a system for clustering transport users. The study also makes use of socioeconomic data to discuss the interdependence between stability and mobility. 

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Jul-2019

Study aims to identify and cluster commuting patterns by making use of smart card data and traditional household survey data in Nanjing, China. Research found that some socioeconomic attributes, as well as bus station density, metro lines, transfer mode and transfer distance can significantly impact commuting patterns. 

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Jun-2019

Report advocating, and setting out a vision for the use of smart ticketing in the city regions. Report highlights the benefits of smart ticketing, advocates for central government action to give greater powers and funding to ensure effective implementation of smart ticketing, whilst cautioning the barriers to smart ticketing. 

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Jun-2019

Report concerning the implementation of EMV contactless ticketing in 2017 as part of the Contactless Transit Framework. Makes use of data from transport operators and stakeholders from relevant companies and government bodies. 

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May-2019

Study focused on passengers intention to use smartcards. Perceived value, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions had the most positive impact, whilst effort expectancy and social influence did not have an impact on likelihood to use the card. 

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May-2019

Literature review into the social-emotional experience of bus travel and on the experience of different socio-demographic groups. Key findings include that bus users have a more positive perception than non-users, the bus experience of those with learning disabilities, mobility impairments and mental health issues is not as understood issues for those with sensory impairments, females have a more negative view than males, school children describe the bus as fun, teenagers have concerns over cost, fleet quality, service provision and attitudes of drivers and other passengers towards them, and urban passengers have a more positive attitude towards the bus. 

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May-2019

Study makes the case against policies of austerity and competition which have been applied to the UK's local public transport systems. The study urges for greater coordination within the sector to tackle social, environmental, financial and sustainability issues.  

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Apr-2019

Research into the demographics of the users of smartcards on the Metro Manilla Light Rail Transit Line. Study finds that groups with higher levels of education and a stable income/job are more likely to use a smart card, and that those with lower levels of education and an unstable income/job are more likely to use a single journey ticket. Additionally, the study considers the impact of the 'sachet economy' - in which goods are purchased in smaller quantities more frequently with the goal of more effective budgeting. This may explain why many lower income users prefer single journey tickets. The study suggests the consideration of this culture to produce smart ticketing solutions for lower income groups.

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Apr-2019

Study makes use of a method for revealing the structure of cities via clustering analysis using a new similarity measure. Researchers apply the method to data for Seoul, South Korea, revealing that the proposed clustering process divides the city in relatively homogenous areas in terms of land use. 

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Apr-2019

Study making use of smart ticketing to analyse user behaviour. Study classifies three types of users: Annual pass users - who are largely commuters, Monthly pass users - who generally had a regular and diverse use of transport, and Ticketbook users - who were generally occasional transit users. The study did find some exceptions to these findings however, such as consistent Ticketbook users and. users with 4 day work weeks

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Mar-2019

Report advocating for greater support for bus services, largely through the lens of support it can provide to other governmental departments. E.g. the Department for Education may benefit as more young people will be able to access education, training or other opportunities due to a decrease in barriers such as high travel costs or inconsistent services.

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Report laying out the issues with rural bus services, what has caused these issues, potential solutions to these issues. The report highlights the value and importance of rural bus services and advocates a 10 point plan for improvement.

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Jan-2019

Report commenting on the factors that have influeced changes in passenger volumes. The report notes key trends which seem to influence bus use, most of which are unfavourable, e.g. a shift towards the expectation of personalised, on demand goods means people prefer taxis or private hire vehicles. The report also notes factors commonly found in areas which buck the trend in bus decline, these being: good quality bus service, unattractive or difficult car travel and denser urban areas.

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Report advocating for improved bus services by encouraging government to: develop a national bus strategy, commit to further investment in urban transport, incentivise local transport authorities to set bus journey time targets, avoid making major changes to the bus service operator grants, identify and trial alternative bus solutions in rural areas, endorse bus operators as preferred delivery partners for the rollout of smart ticketing and to agree on a joint roadmap to zero emissions transport. 

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