The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) has submitted evidence to the Transport Committee to aid their inquiry into ‘Buses connecting communities’. 

In many parts of the country, bus services and passenger numbers are in decline. The Transport Committee will examine the role of buses in connecting rural communities with nearby towns and suburban areas.  

The inquiry will evaluate the effectiveness of recent government policy in tackling the decline in bus services. It will explore the social and economic consequences of poor connectivity and consider whether innovations in alternative service models could provide solutions.  

The Committee will also scrutinise how the government’s proposed bus reforms address the challenges faced by rural areas and local authorities outside of major cities. 

Key recommendations submitted by CIHT included: 

• Government reforms and rural transport challenges 

• Allocate funding to reflect the social value and high per-capita costs of rural transport, considering seasonal demand fluctuations. 

• Provide technical assistance, training, and knowledge-sharing programmes to enhance local capacity for improving bus services. 

• Foster integrated regional transport networks, ensuring connectivity between rural and urban areas as well as rural-to-rural connections. 

• Tackling the decline in bus services 

• Focus resources on regions experiencing transport poverty through funding and capacity building. 

• Establish robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the effectiveness of interventions and disseminate best practices via the Bus Centre of Excellence. 

• Simplify Enhanced Partnership (EP) processes with standardised templates for administrative tasks. 

• Transition to multi-year funding commitments to enable strategic planning and service stability. 

• Integrated multi-modal networks 

• Implement cross-operator ticketing platforms to facilitate seamless multi-modal travel, with simplicity of use for the passenger to be a guiding principle. 

• Establish governance structures to coordinate transport operations across modes and administrative boundaries. 

• Develop a statutory bus stop typology to improve accessibility, safety, and service consistency. 

• Enhance bus service reliability through better management of roadworks and implementation of bus priority measures. 

• Promote active travel by investing in cycling and walking infrastructure to extend public transport catchment areas. 

• Social and economic impacts of poor connectivity 

• Address barriers to education, healthcare, employment, and social inclusion caused by inadequate transport connectivity. 

• Mitigate economic isolation by improving access to regional and national transport systems. 

• Support local economies by enhancing connectivity to encourage footfall and investment in towns and villages. 

• Funding models and governance structures 

• Consider focusing franchising models for urban areas and strengthen Enhanced Partnerships for rural areas, with enforceable service standards under both structures. 

• Align bus policies with car parking charges and road space allocation to encourage public transport use. 

• Transition to sustainable funding mechanisms, such as multi-year agreements, to support long-term planning and investment. 

• Demand Responsive Transport 

• Standardise and centralise procurement of DRT technologies to reduce costs. 

• Provide guidance on deploying DRT, including when to transition to or from conventional bus services. 

• Integrate DRT into broader transport systems and reform procurement for flexible transport services. 

• Address regulatory barriers, such as VAT rules and operating permits, to improve DRT viability. 

• Build local authority capacity in data analytics and product management for effective DRT implementation. 

• Enhanced Partnerships and alternative models 

• Leverage Enhanced Partnerships as an effective alternative to franchising in non-urban areas. 

• Facilitate regular regional conferences to share lessons learnt and best practices in EP implementation. 

• Provide local authorities with more resources and support to accelerate bus service improvements. 

• Cross-boundary and rural-urban services 

• Enable Sub-National Transport Bodies to oversee and coordinate cross-boundary services. 

• Develop funding mechanisms encouraging collaboration between neighbouring authorities. 

• Align bus timetables with rail and other modes to improve journey planning and reduce wait times. 

• Use data-driven approaches to optimise cross-boundary services based on actual travel demand. 

CIHT’s full submission to the Transport Committee inquiry is available to read here.  

More information into the Transport Committee’s inquiry is available to read here.  

CIHT looks forward to continuing to engage the transport committee and welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the committee’s work, helping to create better transport networks that work for all.