With the Buses Bill advancing and the multi-year funding deal, there is a real opportunity to fully unlock the potential of bus
An Arriva bus in Leicester
BY Alistair Hands, Arriva UK Bus
The latest National Transport Survey from the Department for Transport has shown that the number of people travelling by bus has continued to steadily grow year-on-year, even exceeding pre-pandemic levels in some areas.
And the government’s commitment to the importance of bus has been demonstrated by the prioritisation given to the Better Buses Bill, building on the cross-party focus on improving services that the sector has welcomed over recent years.
One of the great strengths of the Bill is that it rightly recognises different regulatory models will work in different parts of the country. As seen in London and Manchester, franchised networks are particularly well-suited to densely populated, large urban areas that are served by well-resourced and skilled transport bodies.
On the other hand, local authorities outside of major cities can achieve effective outcomes for passengers by working in partnership with operators and leveraging their commercial expertise.
Crucially, to deliver on its aims the Bill must be backed up by investment against a backdrop of strained public finances. It was good to see that during the Spending Review, more than £15bn was allocated to local transport projects, in addition to £2.3bn being made available to local authorities through the Local Transport Grant and a commitment to extend England’s £3 bus fare cap.
Of course, the devil is in the detail and the sector will need to see what happens in practice, including the impact of the 5% reduction on the Department for Transport’s day-to-day spending, but the welcome recognition that reliable, affordable and regular buses are the difference between opportunity and isolation for millions of people can provide the sector with a solid platform for success.
It is now essential that this momentum is capitalised on to ensure positive outcomes for passengers and communities, boosting modal shift and healthier and more productive societies through encouraging even more people to leave their car at home and travel on public transport.
And there are a number of further areas that must be considered to ensure that the sector is delivering for passengers. Because, as is well-known, passengers don’t really care about operating models or funding streams. What they want is a bus service that takes them where they want to go, on time, at the right frequency and at a reasonable price. These are the essential criteria that a successful bus network must deliver, irrespective of whether a service is franchised or run in partnership with a local authority.
Delivering on what passengers want must always be the primary focus. I recently gave evidence to members of the Transport Select Committee, where I welcomed the opportunity to share some of the lessons that can be drawn from our experience in Leicester, where we have worked with the Council to implement the local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The BSIP set a clear shared vision, empowering everyone to move at pace and deliver initiatives that really matter to passengers, including multi-operator fare capping and bus prioritisation. Since the BSIP was introduced, Leicester has seen an impressive 25% increase in the number of people travelling by bus.
The customer must also be at the heart of decision making when it comes to use of local funding support. Local authorities should be empowered to allocate their public transport budget in a way that addresses their own unique needs. This is especially true in rural areas with low ridership, where the average annual cost of running a single bus (around £300k) creates a stark economic challenge.
We have experience of working with local authorities in rural areas that have wanted to provide revenue support for socially important routes that are unsustainable on a purely commercial basis but have been unable to because of strict rules ringfencing funding for capital expenditure.
The bus sector is in the strongest position it has been for years, with growing passenger numbers and political support
This is a situation that must change, particularly when you consider that 70% of the routes that we no longer run compared to pre-pandemic can be directly attributed to reductions in public funding. Bus operators want to run services! And passengers deserve the certainty that their bus service won’t be here today and gone tomorrow – which is a key aim of the g5overnment’s legislation to protect socially necessary services. That is why getting the balance right between capital expenditure and revenue support is absolutely essential.
This customer focus should also be reflected in the broader approach to delivering services to meet the needs of local communities. There are cases where a local authority may be committed to protecting a specific, long-existing route from closure, when there may be a more cost-effective way for bus services to better meet local needs.
As Alex Mayer MP’s thoughtful recent report, In The Fast Lane, notes, we have a rare opportunity to put buses at the heart of national transport policy, and a key pillar of this should be stability and transparency. The public money provided through the Local Transport Grant gives local authorities the ability to allocate this funding across network maintenance and enhancements. It’s essential that local authorities are clear on how this funding will be used to realise their strategic ambitions for public transport in their area. This will help to create the conditions for long-term sustainable investment, providing the long-term certainty needed to invest in routes and services, driving the improvements that really matter to passengers.
Nowhere is this clarity more important than unlocking the conditions for sustainable fleet investment, especially with the winding down of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) funding streams.
At Arriva, across the group, we are committed to decarbonisation and expect to invest at least €400m in zero emission vehicles and infrastructure for contracts starting during 2025. By the end of 2025, we expect Arriva’s zero emission bus fleet in the UK and Mainland Europe to have grown to around 1,300 vehicles, almost double what it is today.
The bus sector is in the strongest position it has been for years, with growing passenger numbers and political support. We must all seize this opportunity and build on these foundations to consistently deliver the high quality, successful and sustainable networks that passengers and communities deserve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alistair Hands is Managing Director Regions at Arriva UK Bus
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
Seizing momentum to boost bus services
by Passenger Transport on Jul 25, 2025 • 11:47 am No CommentsWith the Buses Bill advancing and the multi-year funding deal, there is a real opportunity to fully unlock the potential of bus
BY Alistair Hands, Arriva UK Bus
The latest National Transport Survey from the Department for Transport has shown that the number of people travelling by bus has continued to steadily grow year-on-year, even exceeding pre-pandemic levels in some areas.
And the government’s commitment to the importance of bus has been demonstrated by the prioritisation given to the Better Buses Bill, building on the cross-party focus on improving services that the sector has welcomed over recent years.
One of the great strengths of the Bill is that it rightly recognises different regulatory models will work in different parts of the country. As seen in London and Manchester, franchised networks are particularly well-suited to densely populated, large urban areas that are served by well-resourced and skilled transport bodies.
On the other hand, local authorities outside of major cities can achieve effective outcomes for passengers by working in partnership with operators and leveraging their commercial expertise.
Crucially, to deliver on its aims the Bill must be backed up by investment against a backdrop of strained public finances. It was good to see that during the Spending Review, more than £15bn was allocated to local transport projects, in addition to £2.3bn being made available to local authorities through the Local Transport Grant and a commitment to extend England’s £3 bus fare cap.
Of course, the devil is in the detail and the sector will need to see what happens in practice, including the impact of the 5% reduction on the Department for Transport’s day-to-day spending, but the welcome recognition that reliable, affordable and regular buses are the difference between opportunity and isolation for millions of people can provide the sector with a solid platform for success.
It is now essential that this momentum is capitalised on to ensure positive outcomes for passengers and communities, boosting modal shift and healthier and more productive societies through encouraging even more people to leave their car at home and travel on public transport.
And there are a number of further areas that must be considered to ensure that the sector is delivering for passengers. Because, as is well-known, passengers don’t really care about operating models or funding streams. What they want is a bus service that takes them where they want to go, on time, at the right frequency and at a reasonable price. These are the essential criteria that a successful bus network must deliver, irrespective of whether a service is franchised or run in partnership with a local authority.
Delivering on what passengers want must always be the primary focus. I recently gave evidence to members of the Transport Select Committee, where I welcomed the opportunity to share some of the lessons that can be drawn from our experience in Leicester, where we have worked with the Council to implement the local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The BSIP set a clear shared vision, empowering everyone to move at pace and deliver initiatives that really matter to passengers, including multi-operator fare capping and bus prioritisation. Since the BSIP was introduced, Leicester has seen an impressive 25% increase in the number of people travelling by bus.
The customer must also be at the heart of decision making when it comes to use of local funding support. Local authorities should be empowered to allocate their public transport budget in a way that addresses their own unique needs. This is especially true in rural areas with low ridership, where the average annual cost of running a single bus (around £300k) creates a stark economic challenge.
We have experience of working with local authorities in rural areas that have wanted to provide revenue support for socially important routes that are unsustainable on a purely commercial basis but have been unable to because of strict rules ringfencing funding for capital expenditure.
This is a situation that must change, particularly when you consider that 70% of the routes that we no longer run compared to pre-pandemic can be directly attributed to reductions in public funding. Bus operators want to run services! And passengers deserve the certainty that their bus service won’t be here today and gone tomorrow – which is a key aim of the g5overnment’s legislation to protect socially necessary services. That is why getting the balance right between capital expenditure and revenue support is absolutely essential.
This customer focus should also be reflected in the broader approach to delivering services to meet the needs of local communities. There are cases where a local authority may be committed to protecting a specific, long-existing route from closure, when there may be a more cost-effective way for bus services to better meet local needs.
As Alex Mayer MP’s thoughtful recent report, In The Fast Lane, notes, we have a rare opportunity to put buses at the heart of national transport policy, and a key pillar of this should be stability and transparency. The public money provided through the Local Transport Grant gives local authorities the ability to allocate this funding across network maintenance and enhancements. It’s essential that local authorities are clear on how this funding will be used to realise their strategic ambitions for public transport in their area. This will help to create the conditions for long-term sustainable investment, providing the long-term certainty needed to invest in routes and services, driving the improvements that really matter to passengers.
Nowhere is this clarity more important than unlocking the conditions for sustainable fleet investment, especially with the winding down of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) funding streams.
At Arriva, across the group, we are committed to decarbonisation and expect to invest at least €400m in zero emission vehicles and infrastructure for contracts starting during 2025. By the end of 2025, we expect Arriva’s zero emission bus fleet in the UK and Mainland Europe to have grown to around 1,300 vehicles, almost double what it is today.
The bus sector is in the strongest position it has been for years, with growing passenger numbers and political support. We must all seize this opportunity and build on these foundations to consistently deliver the high quality, successful and sustainable networks that passengers and communities deserve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alistair Hands is Managing Director Regions at Arriva UK Bus
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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