Just a blip, or the start of a trend? We look at what’s causing bus and rail patronage to decline The number of people travelling by public transport in Great Britain is declining, with patronage falling on both bus and train services in 2017. The trend is by no means universal, with some...
Reading Buses boss urges government to support councils Martijn Gilbert: ‘[Congestion] is the single biggest driver of dissatisfaction, and we need to crack it’ Reading Buses chief executive officer Martijn Gilbert has called upon central government to take a greater role in addressing traffic congestion. Speaking at the publication of the Autumn 2017 Bus...
Transport secretary Chris Grayling says that a range of operating models will be explored for the forthcoming West Coast Partnership contract “An integrated railway operation, in charge of both its infrastructure and its services, akin to some Japanese high-speed lines” Transport secretary Chris Grayling has indicated that full vertical integration will be among...
Businesses are being asked to express interest in trialling a new TfL service that would operate flexibly in an area in need of improved public transport Transport for London announced last week that it is exploring the potential of using a new ‘demand responsive’ TfL bus service to enhance London’s public transport network,...
Published for International Women’s Day, a survey for RDG has found that four-fifths of women in Britain have never considered a career in rail Staff at train operator Greater Anglia have formed a group to focus on gender equality issues, with over 100 colleagues joining up A survey for the Rail Delivery Group...
DfT finds England’s buses lost 79 million passengers during 2017 Tobyn Hughes: ‘We are working together to pool research and evidence’ Bus demand across Great Britain has continued to decline according to the latest patronage statistics published this week by the Department for Transport. The figures reveal that for the full year ending...
Should urban transport policy begin to reflect the ‘new economy’, with interesting places accessible by active travel and mass transit? The rise of the ‘Flat White economy’ has implications for transport Something is happening to our bland, branded up High Streets in the same way that something fundamental is happening to our urban...
Survey shows that Stagecoach and Go-Ahead continue to set the pace in terms of bus user satisfaction, with FirstGroup still struggling to keep up A full report appeared in the latest edition of Passenger Transport Passenger watchdog Transport Focus chose to emphasise the importance of bus drivers when launching its eighth annual Bus...
Transport group will lead goverment-backed ‘MultiCAV’ project, offering autonomous pods for journeys to and from high-tech hub near Didcot FirstGroup has already trialled CAVs in the US FirstGroup will lead the first mainstream use of fully connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in the UK. The government announced its approval for the scheme last...
Changes in lifestyle and working patterns are suppressing travel David Brown: ‘There is a whole range of issues’ Go Ahead-Group has highlighted the impact of changing travel patterns across the UK on transport companies’ finances in its half-year results. Despite patronage falls at the group’s regional bus division and Southeastern rail franchise, half-year...
Devolution agreement funds used to explore bus franchising options Burnham to decide on franchising Transport for Greater Manchester is pressing ahead with plans to introduce bus franchising in the Greater Manchester region with £11.5m set aside for 2018/19 to progress the plans. It says that the funding will be utilised in order to...
Rules on the protection of personal data will be tightened next month, with fines of up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20m for any organisation which fails to comply. Rhodri Clark reports Oyster didn’t exist when the Data Protection Act was passed This article may seem to be yet another one...
Is it time to embrace our inner hipster?