Laura Shoaf chairs Urban Transport Group
West Midlands transport chief is new chair of Urban Transport Group Laura Shoaf Laura Shoaf, managing director of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), has been named as the new chair of the Urban Transport Group. Shoaf, who was previously vice-chair, has over 20 years’ experience leading in urban transport planning in the UK...
SPT says transport is key to Covid recovery
Transport partnership calls for support from the Scottish Government Glasgow Subway patronage has fallen by around 90% as a result of Covid-19 SPT, the regional transport partnership for the Strathclyde area of West of Scotland, has called on the Scottish Government to put public transport at the forefront of this week’s budget announcement....
Summer recovery: signpost for the future?
Passenger numbers recover to 44% in July-September quarter. Chris Cheek offers his analysis The bus use figures for last summer are dreadful, but they are a great deal better than the previous quarter A strong recovery in bus patronage during the summer quarter has been confirmed by the publication of the latest quarterly...
World’s first hydrogen deckers enter service
‘This marks a significant milestone in our industry’ says boss of First Bus Scotland The new 60-seat double deckers are set to transform the air of ‘the granite city’ The world’s first fleet of double decker hydrogen buses will be officially launched into service tomorrow in Aberdeen. Operated by First Bus in a...
Bus operators launch vaccination shuttles
Go North East and The Harrogate Bus Company step in to make travel easier for those attending jab appointments Go North East’s ‘ConnectorShuttle’ serves the NHS Nightingale Hospital North East Go North East and The Harrogate Bus Company have this week launched dedicated vaccination shuttle bus services. Go North East’s new ‘ConnectorShuttle’ serves...
Achieving a step change in mobility
A step change in mobility is required but it won’t be easy to deliver. It should deliver a multiplicity of transport modes and solutions with a clear focus on sustainable choices for a range of trip purposes and types In many ways the history of the 20th century has been the recreation of...
Good riddance 2020, but what will 2021 bring?
Few will be sad to see the back of 2020. Here are my hopes and fears for the New Year Normally time flies when you’re having fun and my traditional ‘Hopes and Fears’ for the year ahead comes round as rapidly as Boris changing his mind, but these last 12 months of unrelenting...
What’s in a name?
Avoiding ambiguities in common transport parlance George Shillibeer provided the first omnibus service in London in 1829 We still create confusion about some of the key means of transport simply because of the nomenclature we use. Everyday descriptions such as ‘bus’ conjure up different images to different people, some of which may...
Governments working on Eurostar deal
French transport minister makes commitment to struggling operator Eurostar patronage has slumped by 95% Reports suggest that the French and UK governments will step in to provide financial support to troubled cross-Channel rail operator Eurostar. Eurostar has seen passenger numbers slump by 95% since the start of the pandemic and it now operates...
Reading Buses suspends services
Changes reflect national lockdown Green Line 702 services into central London will be suspended Council-owned Reading Buses has announced the suspension of a small number of their services over the next couple of weeks. The operator says that with the current lockdown it makes sense to make the changes due to significantly fewer...
New faces join Trentbarton
Key appointments in commercial operations and marketing and communications Matt Holton and Ross Hitchcock have joined Trentbarton Two key managers have joined bus operator Trentbarton to lead the bus company’s commercial operations and its marketing and communications. Ross Hitchcock has joined as commercial manager and Matt Holton is the marketing and communications manager....
Raising the bar