Bus Centre of Excellence Becomes a Reality.
Today 21st March has seen the official announcement of the ‘Bus Centre of Excellence’ – a brand new initiative to bring together knowledge and expertise from across the sector to improve the delivery of bus services.
This new Department for Transport (DfT) co-sponsored centre will be delivered with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) as the host institution.
The original announcement of a Bus Centre of Excellence (BCoE) was made in the Government’s Bus Strategy (2021) and is a welcome complement to the investment and changes proposed in the strategy. The BCoE will be a key part of improving the delivery of bus services through helping to bring together knowledge and expertise from across the sector, providing training and sharing best practice
Neil Johnstone, President, CIHT said:
CIHT has a proven track record of delivering high quality continuing professional development for those working in the transportation sector. We are delighted to be the chosen partner to help work on improving this important sustainable transport mode.
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.
The Bus Centre of Excellence will enable the delivery of a long-term programme of activities and support. The centre will be co-sponsored by the Department for Transport, and training will be managed and delivered by experts from across the bus sector. Focus of this training 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, the ‘Developing Generation Bus’ programme of free/subsidised training and the Bus Excellence Stakeholder Board – to support the delivery of a structured support programme.
CIHT will provide the secretariat and additional support for the centre.
ENDS
The Bus Centre of Excellence (BCOE) was initially pledged in the National Bus Strategy
More information will be released on the CIHT website as the BCOE develops
