Make bus travel normal again – ministers urged
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...
Are weekends key to patronage recovery?
Some Transdev routes exceeding 2019 patronage figures Transdev’s ‘Hotline’ has reported patronage better than 2019 New figures from the Department for Transport suggest public transport patronage is slowly recovering from Covid-19 in Great Britain, but patronage at weekends is exceeding that of weekdays in many cases. The latest daily figures from late April...
SME bus operators are optimistic about future
Britain’s small and medium-sized bus operators face huge challenges but there is positivity ahead of next week’s ALBUM Conference in Blackpool Bus use is back to 75% of pre-Covid levels in Blackpool While acknowledging the huge challenges their sector faces, there is optimism among Britain’s small and medium-sized bus companies ahead of next...
Cornwall launches bus fares revolution
Pioneering trial backed by £23.5m from the UK Government will see bus fares slashed for an initial four-year period across Cornwall’s bus network Left to right: Linda Taylor, Simon Goff and Richard Stevens launch the bus fares pilot Cornwall Council is promising a revolution in its bus services after the launch on April...
Wales moves to take control of bus services
The Welsh Government is bringing forward legislation for bus franchising to create an ‘easy to use’ bus network that can challenge car dependency Lee Waters wants to turn the tide in favour of buses “For more than 70 years we have made it easy to travel by car and harder to travel by...
Go-Ahead strategy favours bus expansion
New chief executive Christian Schreyer reveals ambitious new strategy but brands existing German rail contract ‘a mistake’. Andrew Garnett reports Schreyer: Focus on improving the next billion journeys Recently installed Go-Ahead chief executive Christian Schreyer aims to move on from the debacle of the Southeastern rail franchise and problematic overseas contracts with an...
‘£5bn fuel duty cut will hit public transport’
The chancellor this week announced the biggest ever reduction in fuel duty to help motorists – but public transport campaigners are not impressed Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a 5p a litre cut in fuel duty in this week’s spring statement Chancellor Rishi Sunak was accused of having “pulled the rug from underneath public...
Majority of public back bus priority measures
New research undertaken for CPT shows local authorities that they can be bold with plans to improve bus services, while toolkit offers helpful advice A clear majority (54%) of the general public support bus priority schemes while only 15% oppose them Most people support measures which give buses greater priority on roads, according...
Rival Stagecoach offer gives certainty to staff
Group’s directors support cash offer from German asset manager DWS, scuppering National Express merger that would have seen redundancies Stagecoach looks set to retain its independence after receiving a rival £595m cash bid from German asset manager DWS, trumping a takeover offer from its UK rival National Express. The bus, coach and tram...
Soaring fuel prices add to ‘the perfect storm’
Wholesale diesel prices 44% higher than start of year Passenger transport operators were this week grappling with the impact that soaring fuel prices will have on their businesses. Already struggling with the challenge of building back passenger volumes after successive Covid lockdowns and labour shortages, fuel prices have now leapt upwards following the Russian...
£150m extra Covid support for bus and tram
Bus operators had warned of significant cuts to services if the government stuck to its plan to end emergency funding on April 5 Grant Shapps: this funding will also help authorities and operators work together to provide even better services for people right across the country Bus and light rail operators in England...
‘Unless they act at once the damage will be done’
On March 1 bus operators in England will notify traffic commissioners of extensive cuts to services – unless the Treasury extends emergency funding South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis (second from right) led a statement by seven of England’s nine metro mayors The Treasury is being urged to extend emergency funding to support local...
