The UK Government has launched a Bus Centre of Excellence, aimed at improving local authorities’ ability to deliver better bus services
Richard Holden announced the Bus Centre of Excellence and additional ZEBRA funding during a visit to Leicester
A new initiative to upskill, recruit and retain a new generation of bus professionals, alongside support to help the bus sector get stronger, was announced by roads minister Richard Holden this week.
Backed by £815,000 of government investment, the new ‘Bus Centre of Excellence’ will bring together expertise from local government, bus operators and industry to boost skills and diversity in the bus sector.
The new Bus Centre of Excellence will help drive the country’s bus sector recovery and help provide passengers with cleaner, more affordable buses that run on time
Holden commented: “The new Bus Centre of Excellence will help drive the country’s bus sector recovery and help provide passengers with cleaner, more affordable buses that run on time.”
As pledged in the government’s National Bus Strategy for England, the new BCofE will give life to a new generation of bus professionals to drive forward more reliable, affordable and cleaner bus services. Hosted by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, it will provide training opportunities and direct access to resources and industry experts, as well as networking events to uplift the capacity and capability of the whole sector, working to encourage people to get back on the bus. Bus expert Leon Daniels, the former managing director of surface transport at Transport for London, will chair BCoE’s advisory board.
The focus of the centre’s training plans will include public transport service planning and network design, performance oversight, contract procurement and competitive tendering, design and development of bus priority measures, and wider traffic management measures to improve local bus performance.
Activities will include a soon to be launched digital hub containing best practice, news, events and more. There will also be a training programme themed around ‘Developing Generation Bus’.
CIHT, which represents over 14,000 people who work in the highways and transportation sector, will provide the secretariat and additional support for the centre. CIHT president Neil Johnstone commented: “CIHT has a proven track record of delivering high quality continuing professional development for those working in the transportation sector … This partnership (alongside other government initiatives) will see CIHT help to bring together a wide range of professional skills and knowledge from both the public and private sector to facilitate change to local infrastructure, service delivery and the sector across the country – with the ultimate aim of improving bus services.”
We are pleased to see the Bus Centre of Excellence we helped to shape through our research is finally being launched two years after the government published its national strategy for buses
Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We are pleased to see the Bus Centre of Excellence we helped to shape through our research is finally being launched two years after the government published its national strategy for buses.
“The centre will hopefully address the gap we helped identify between those local authorities that were already well-placed to deliver better bus services, and those with less resources and expertise. We now look forward to finding out more about how organisations like ours can work with the government to make the centre a success.”
This story appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!
