Government backs recommendations for ‘stop anywhere’ buses to make women feel safer
New government guidance will be issued to councils nationwide to help them consider how to make their streets safer for women and girls, Active Travel England (ATE) has today announced. New polling by YouGov has found that almost 9 in 10 women have felt unsafe while walking at night, while 7 in 10 have changed […]
Transport Committee to examine HGV and coach driver facilities
The Transport Committee is to examine the progress made on improving facilities for HGV and coach drivers almost four years after the previous Committee wrapped up its inquiry into the road freight supply chain. The inquiry by the Transport Committee in the last Parliament was prompted by difficulties in supplying essential goods to the UK’s supermarkets, petrol station forecourts and other marketplaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that rest facilities for HGV drivers were often lacking or poor quality, […]
Dorset: BCP Council approves bus subsidies to protect 1.3m journeys
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has approved the continuation of protecting 1.3million bus journeys to improve the public transport network across the region. The council has been working with Morebus to make sure that the services that matter most to residents are secured for the future. The council helps to pay for routes that […]
Hull and East Yorkshire’s bus services to come under mayor’s control
Plans have been unveiled to transfer control of public transport in Hull and East Yorkshire to the elected mayor. The newly formed Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA), headed by Luke Campbell, will assume legal responsibility on 30 March, says the BBC. However, the transfer of all functions will take longer, with a total […]
Unite backs TfL proposals for publicly owned buses
Unite has strongly backed proposals for a new publicly owned bus company for London. Last week, Transport for London (TfL) set out a new draft business plan, which aims to transform the capital’s transport network. Within this, it references the development of detailed plans for a new publicly owned bus company in London – the first in […]
Oxfordshire invests £5.5m in cleaner and better buses after new vehicle improvement grants
Grants of £1.405 million have been awarded to bus companies and community transport groups to support upgrades to their vehicles for the benefit of passengers and the environment. Oxfordshire County Council has approved seven vehicle improvement grant applications that will collectively help fund 13 new electric buses, convert two existing minibuses from diesel to electric […]
Petition to reinstate bus driver tops 100,000
A petition calling for a London bus driver to be reinstated after he was sacked for tackling a mugger on his bus has topped 100,000 signatures. 62 year old Mark Hehir was sacked from his job as a bus driver in North-West London after chasing down and restraining a robber who stole a passenger’s necklace […]
EMCCA assumes Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire’s public transport responsibilities
The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) is now the official Regional Transport Authority for the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Derby area. EMCCA has taken over responsibility for transport plans and strategies, investment and bus operations (working closely with local bus operators) throughout the region. However, EMCCA is not the Local Highway Authority, so the role of managing traffic […]
Operators announced for first publicly run bus services in the Liverpool City Region for 40 years
Following a competitive tender process, two operators have been appointed to operate the first locally controlled services in the Liverpool City Region since the 1980s, marking the biggest change to public transport in the region for more than a generation. Stagecoach has been selected to operate the franchised bus network based in St Helens, while […]
Go-Ahead London MD says Labour tax hike has made some London bus routes ‘unsustainable’
The new managing director of Go-Ahead London, the capital’s biggest bus firm, says hikes in National Insurance and rising inflation have made several bus routes “unsustainable” financially, says the Standard. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, in her October 2024 Budget, increased the rate of employers’ National Insurance from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent, starting from April 2025. It was […]