Confederation of Passenger Transport wants the Department for Transport to reverse powerful ‘avoid public transport’ message to rebuild patronage

 
There is concern in the bus industry that the robust ‘avoid public transport’ message from government during the pandemic is still influencing travel behaviour

 
Department for Transport ministers are being urged to be seen using buses to remind people that “it’s a normal thing to do”.

There is concern in the bus industry that the robust ‘avoid public transport’ message from government during the pandemic is still influencing travel behaviour. Fare-paying bus users are currently 15% down on pre-pandemic levels – but the proportion of missing passengers is twice as high among older, concessionary travellers, with safety fears cited as the reason.

Speaking at last week’s ALBUM Conference in Blackpool. Confederation of Passenger Transport chief executive Graham Vidler said the DfT needed to act.

“They need to start putting that right,” he said. “You’ll have seen that they started putting it right in a big way for rail with the Great British Rail Sale amongst other things. They need to do the same for the bus, and it can be some quite simple things.

We are giving DfT’s external relations department, right now actually, this week, a bunch of ideas for where they can take ministers out, put them on buses and showcase that it’s a normal thing to do.

“We are giving DfT’s external relations department, right now actually, this week, a bunch of ideas for where they can take ministers out, put them on buses and showcase that it’s a normal thing to do.

“That sort of thing doesn’t cost any money. That doesn’t require a call on the Treasury. It’s perfectly within the Department for Transport’s gift and it’s something we are going to push really, really hard, because I think a simple intervention like that, replayed across the media, can have a kind of subconscious impact on people who’ve just forgotten the idea of going out for a bus journey because they want to do so.”

 
The full story appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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