The cross-sector benefits of backing the bus
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.
How people respond to the experience of bus travel and the implications of bus travel and the implications for the future of bus services
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.
What scope for boosting bus use? An analysis of the intrinsic bus potential of local authority areas in England
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.
How bus users spend their journey time
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.
Back the Bus to Level Up
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.
Strategic analysis of current bus safety issues
Feb-2022
Review into safety on buses, intended to understand current weaknesses of current bus safety measures, to develop best practice recommendations for improvement and to provide an overview of how to address safety challenges in the bus system.
Dream Ticket? The challenges and opportunities of delivering smart ticketing in the city regions
Nov-2022
Report investigating challenges and opportunity in smart ticketing for transport projects. The report highlights challenges such as: the high number of solutions - each having advantages and disadvantages - producing a complex landscape for procurers, lack of affordability for the systems, lack of standards means multi-operator/modal systems can be challenging to produce. The report highlights willingness to engage and understand of the importance of smart ticketing by operators, central and local government as key opportunities for smart ticketing.
A Smoother Ride
Sep-2023
A report concerning how the 2017 bus services act might be used and amended to improve local bus services. Recommendations include: Updating the 2017 act to reduce the time and cost to set up a franchising model, ensuring that LTAs have operator information when needed, allowing all areas to have the same rights as MCAs to franchise services, removing restrictions on the creation of municipal bus companies, bringing together existing funding into a single devolved funding settlement and maintaining levels of bus investment through the next 5 years.
The Economic Impact of Local Bus Services
Sep-2024
Research into the value produced by bus services in the UK. Reviews economic value in the provision of bus services, value derived from people using the bus in terms of direct benefits to passengers and other road users and value generated from the activities of passengers making use of bus services to spend their money.
Impact of Covid on English National Concessionary Travel Journeys
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%.
Reversing the decline in rural bus services 2019
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.
Sustainable Transport Alliance: Our vision of future transport 2021
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.
A Manifesto for UK Bus Services
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.
Transport deserts report
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.
Every Village, every hour - 2021 buses report
Mar-2021
Report into the viability of improving bus services in rural areas, with a focus on providing a bus every hour, seven days a week to every village. Report recommends continuing emergency bus funding, recognising a universal basic right to public transport, establishing bus regulations, providing funding in the order £2.7bn per year, redirecting road building funding towards bus provision, ensuring rural public transport is low or no cost and to investigate how England might move to a Swiss-style pulse model of transport scheduling.
Action Plan: Information on Rail Fares and Ticketing
Dec-2017
Report produced to lay out clear actions to be taken to improve the passenger experience when buying and using train tickets. Report lays out a number of recommendations, focusing on how a passenger chooses their ticket, what ticket they are buying, where they buy their ticket, and how they but their ticket.
Bus Franchising: One size does not fit all
Sep-2024
Report reviews options for alternative organisation strategies for the improvement of bus services. The study highlights that the London model of bus franchising may not be appropriate for other areas, especially in smaller cities and rural regions. Additionally, the report encourages realism towards the benefits of bus franchising, noting that Brighton and Hove has a successful bus network, despite functioning on a commercial, deregulated model.
Examining the effect of integrated ticketing on mode choice for interregional commuting: Studies among car users
Feb-2022
Study on the extent to which car commuters are likely to use public transport following the implementation of integrated ticketing. Study finds integrated does promote transport use, especially among male car commuters. Study suggests integrated ticketing should take greater role in efforts to induce public transport use.
National Bus Strategy: Capacity and Capability
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.
Moving Forward Together
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.