Passenger Voice March 2016: Anthony Smith’s editorial
04 March 2016
Passengers’ relationship with the bus industry
This year’s UK Bus Summit provided an opportunity to reflect on the current challenges and future for bus services. I was pleased to be there talking about our latest report into passengers’ relationship with the bus industry and why people don’t use the bus more.
This report is about ensuring bus services are built around the needs of passengers and that their views and aspirations are at the heart of decision-making at this critical point for the industry. Our research shows that there is real value in companies communicating and engaging with passengers and building up a relationship. Not only could this help in making better decisions but it also generates trust and goodwill towards the company when things go wrong.
We also hope that this report will help inform the Government’s proposed Buses Bill about what passengers think about existing services and what they want to see improved in the future. It provides a number of areas for local authorities and the bus industry to both provide a better experience for current passengers and also attract new ones.
I hope you will join us in Manchester for our event, Is bus the missing link in delivering a northern powerhouse?, where you will be able to hear about this work and the latest Bus Passenger Survey results. Combining our work on satisfaction with this report, on priorities and trust, means that we have gathered the views of just under 45,000 people in the last year. If you are interested in attending the event further details can be found here.
Finally thank you to all of you who told us what you think of Passenger Voice in our survey. We will be using this feedback to help bring you the stories that most interest you.
