Transport User Voice – May 2019 – Bus passenger satisfaction

29 April 2019

What is Transport Focus doing?

Much more noise is being generated around bus services at the moment than at an any other time for many years. From the Labour party announcement in late April about its views on future bus funding to growing local concerns about air quality, bus lanes and buggy spacethe temperature surrounding bus policy and provision is increasing. 

Transport Focus has just finished round of workshops in England that looked at how to make bus a better choice for young people – you can read about that in another part of this newsletter. The summary of what was learned from those lively events will be published soon, and Transport Focus will set out what it believes should happen next in a separate report later this spring. 

In addition to these activities, Transport Focus also held a successful seminar in Glasgow on 25 April, where participants looked at the experiences and needs of young bus passengers in Scotland. Alongside a closer look at the recent Bus Passenger Survey results in Scotland, this event also heard from Transport Scotland and the Confederation of Passenger Transport on planned developments for better bus services across the nation.   

As Transport Focus concludes a roadshow of more than 90 meetings with local authorities and operators following through on the latest Bus Passenger Survey results, it will also pull together a broader set of thoughts on future policy priorities. 

Within the new 2019-20 Workplan, Transport Focus is going to focus considerable effort over the coming months on making a difference for bus passengers in one area in particular – the West Midlands. While much of the work Transport Focus does is useful at a national and regional level – through the various Bus Alliances it either chairs or takes part in – it is also keen to try out a new campaign approach to see if it’s possible to secure significant change in one area. If this approach works, it can then be rolled out elsewhere in future years. 

To back all this up, Transport Focus has forthcoming insight reports on bus user priorities for improvement, research on non-users, the experiences of disabled bus passengers, Traveline and bus passenger information, plus some in-depth dives into the detail of the Bus Passenger Survey. 

Clearly, there’s lots to come from Transport Focus to keep up the momentum for bus passengers. 

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