Transport User Voice November 2025 – Chief Executive’s editorial

27 November 2025

From Alex Robertson

I greatly enjoyed our recent Board visit to Brighton & Hove, which is covered in this month’s newsletter. It was genuinely inspiring.

One thing that came up that we often talk about is buses going cashless. Brighton and Hove have decided they will keep taking cash – for certain customers it would be a real problem if they didn’t – and have found ways to make it work without causing delays. It made me think, if you prioritise inclusion in the way Brighton and Hove buses appear to will you always find solutions to problems like this? Or to put it another way, is it more about priorities than barriers? We’ll be sharing what we learnt from our visit with other operators and transport authorities. 

Look out for the latest Lorry Driver Facilities survey coming soon. The results show how much of a challenge there is and that change will take time. We held a roundtable earlier this year with all the main organisations in a position to help improve the quality and quantity of lorry driver rest stops. We developed an action plan following that event and there’s some real momentum behind the issue now. We said we’d review progress after a year – so spring 2026 – and that will be an important test of where we are. 

You may also have seen that the Railways Bill has been published. It will change our role as we take on new powers and responsibilities in relation to the railway. We will also retain our existing roles representing bus, coach and tram users in England outside London, and users of the Strategic Road Network in England. You can read more about how the changes affect us here.

We’ll be watching this closely as the Bill progresses through Parliament. 

Enjoy the read.