UK Bus & Coach 2023

UK BUS & COACH 2023

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The UK Bus and Coach Conference 2023 CPT would like to invite members to join us at the UK Bus & Coach Conference and CPT Annual Dinner 2023.

30 & 31 March 2023 The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham

Spanning two packed days, the UK Bus & Coach Conference brings together operators large and small with supply chain, key stakeholders and Government to debate, discuss and share experience of the big issues facing industry.

Members will enjoy free access to all aspects of the conference, from unmissable Keynotes, and panel debates to hard-hitting Q&A. Not only hearing from industry leaders but sharing experiences with fellow members and making the most of opportunities to network and catch-up with colleagues from across the UK. Tackling the big questions and taking a rounded look at the issues facing Bus and Coach today, the programme has more than a little something for everyone. The CPT team cannot wait for you to join them for what marks the start of a renewed focus on our shared journey.

For more information, or to book your free place, please visit: www.ukbuscoachconference23.co.uk

CPT Annual Dinner

We are delighted to announce the longawaited return of the CPT Annual Dinner, a hallmark event in the industry’s calendar.

Join fellow members and industry stakeholders for an evening to remember. Exclusively available to CPT members, tickets include:

30 March 2023 The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham

l Welcome drinks reception l Three course meal l Half a bottle of wine l Entertainment Individual seats cost £195 + VAT, with tables of 10 priced at £1,800 + VAT. Book now by visiting: www.cpt-uk.org/cpt-annual-dinner-2023 Non members interested in attending either event should contact the Membership Team on membership@cpt-uk.org or call 020 7240 3131 (option 1)

annual

2023

Confederation of Passenger Transport

22 Greencoat Place London SW1P 1PR admin@cpt-uk.org | 020 7240 3131 | www.cpt-uk.org | @cpt_uk

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

Welcome

Welcome to UK Bus & Coach 2023. This special publication accompanies the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s new flagship event in the industry calendar, the inaugural UK Bus & Coach Conference and CPT Annual Dinner. Spanning two packed days – March 30-31 – the UK Bus & Coach Conference at The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham brings together operators large and small with supply chain, key stakeholders and government to debate, discuss and share experiences of the big issues facing the industry. Tackling the big questions and taking a rounded look at the issues facing bus and coach today, the programme has more than a little something for everyone. To complement this important event, this special publication examines how different parties are doing their bit to ensure that the UK’s bus and coach sector fulfils its huge potential.

We hope you find it an interesting read!

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FOREWORD

GRAHAM VIDLER

A REVIEW OF THE YEAR

Ralph Roberts, President of CPT, welcomes conference delegates

CPT chief executive Graham Vidler on what’s in store in Birmingham

We look back at some of the key events of the past 12 months

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TRANSPORT FOCUS

MCGILL'S

Transport Focus ensures that we know what is happening on the ground

Ralph Roberts says that bus users still need to see a levelling up

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FIRST BUS

EPM GROUP

First Bus is striving to be a sustainability leader in the transport industry

Software solutions specialist aims to support bus operators

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PROGRAMME

SPEAKER PROFILES

The two-day UK Bus & Coach Conference 2023 programme

Biographies of the speakers at the UK Bus & Coach Conference 2023

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We’re on a mission to decarbonise our fleet!

Our journey to net zero is our number one priority and so far we have: • Invested over £50 million • Introduced 109 fully Electric Vehicles in 15 months • Electrified four depots

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

Foreword

I AM FILLED WITH HOPE FOR OUR SECTOR elcome to the 2023 CPT UK Bus and Coach Conference.

Thank you to all our staff, contributors and supporters that make this conference possible and thank you for attending. I believe we have an exciting agenda that is relevant to our times and I urge you all to engage with the speakers and visit the exhibitions on show. The financial assistance of our sponsors is fundamental to making all of this possible and in thanking all of you, I would like to give a special mention to our headline sponsors, Backhouse Jones, TruTac, Ticketer and Mellor for their support.

After almost three years of pandemic restrictions, this

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decarbonisation of the bus and coach fleet, the now perennial matter of making coaches accessible, driver shortages and the role that technology plays in our industry will be brought to the fore all brought to life by our expert and VIP speakers that include Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and shadow bus minister, Labour’s Simon Lightwood MP.

conference marks a return to normality, whatever that turns out to be. The big ticket policies of the last few years - the National Bus Strategy, Levelling Up agenda, BSIPs, ZEBRA and Bus Partnership Fund - have failed to make their mark. For the sake of our sector and the communities we serve, we need to make 2023 the year of delivery for these initiatives. As public finances are in short supply and hard fought over, you can be sure that CPT will be making the sector’s case in all areas of the UK. Over the next two days, the range of topics covered will be engaging and informative.

Topics, such as regulatory reform, minimum service levels for buses,

“After almost three years of pandemic restrictions, this conference marks a return to normality, whatever that turns out to be”

The pandemic has certainly accelerated the trend of working from home and the modal shift towards the private car that has been baked into our planning and policy decisions for decades.

Reversing it is not going to be easy. But, when I look at the range of topics we will be discussing, the participant and attendance lists, I am filled with hope that our sector will rise to this challenge and prevail.

I do hope that you leave this conference energised, invigorated and positive about our industry and our future. Enjoy! n Ralph Roberts CEO, Confederation of Passenger Transport UK

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

LET’S RECONNECT AND DRIVE OUR INDUSTRY FORWARD

CPT chief executive Graham Vidler on what’s in store for delegates at the 2023 UK Bus and Coach Conference in Birmingham

very warm welcome to our CPT family of members, guests and industry colleagues to the 2023 UK Bus and Coach Conference in Birmingham.

As your industry body, we felt it was important to bring people back together in the same place after a short while apart. The opportunity for members to have proper, inperson conversations over a coffee, as part of our informative panel sessions, around our exciting exhibitions or during our coveted dinner is long overdue.

Our aims for the two days are simple. We want to engage with members to find out what’s important to them, connect people with colleagues and thought leaders, enable learnings across both bus and coach and be ambitious about what the future holds.

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WHAT’S IN STORE

I’d like to start with a special thanks to our headline sponsors Backhouse Jones, TruTac, Ticketer and Mellor, as well as our supplier exhibitors AS Miles Consulting, Equipmake, Allison Transmission, Gallagher, PSV Transport Solutions, SURE, Pelican Yutong, Lloyd Morgan Group, DKV, Flixbus, TD Tyres and EPM Bus Solutions and many more.

Their involvement shows just how vibrant and innovative our sector is right now. Without their fantastic support, these two days would not have been possible.

So what’s in store for our delegates? Two interactive days of forward-looking, topical and innovative discussions, full of senior thought-leaders, politicians and experts, sprinkled with plenty of networking opportunities.

In between the two days on the evening of March 30 will be the landmark industry event of the year - the CPT annual dinner.

Guests at our gala dinner will benefit from networking in a

On day two we switch the focus to the coming challenge for coach operators. The Zero Emission Coach Taskforce (ZECT) chair, Ian Luckett, will convene a session on the taskforce’s recently published Road to Net Zero report. The report is a detailed, forward-thinking analysis of the zero emission transition, packed with practical suggestions and Ian will discuss its main findings with Department for Transport director, Jessica Matthews.

relaxed setting and get the chance to listen to even more inspirational speeches and content that includes Emily Turner who recently went viral by travelling from London to Edinburgh by bus. We also have a surprise celebrity speaker to keep our guests entertained.

Our conference couldn’t come in more, as they say, interesting times and we’ve got plenty of great speakers to help delegates navigate the structural changes ahead of us.

To officially open the conference, I am delighted to welcome UK transport heavyweight Lord Sir Peter Hendy of Richmond Hill, chair of Network Rail and the London Legacy Development Company, as our keynote speaker.

As a public service vehicle enthusiast at heart, a former transport commissioner for Transport for London, as well as a government advisor during the pandemic, Sir Peter’s credentials speak for themselves.

With the timeline to net zero now better measured in years rather than decades we’ve got two sessions on how to address the financial and operational challenges of converting tens of thousands of vehicles to zeroemission fuels.

With government set to end the sale of new diesel buses during the 2030s, we’ll look at the challenge ahead for some of the parts of the sector which might be harder to convert to zero-emission fuels.

On day one, The road to zeroemission: decarbonising buses everywhere panel of experts will discuss the challenges ahead for SMEs and rural areas to achieve net zero ambition.

DAY ONE TOPICS

Coach operators will also have plenty to gain from attendance at two of our day one sessions.

With holidaymakers flocking back to coach trips, our session ‘Coach and the city’ session explores whether local decisionmakers are unfairly pigeon-holing coaches in the tourism box. Do they fully recognise the sector’s wider potential in strategic town planning, as vehicles that support better air quality, net-zero, well-being and economic benefits?

Join the debate to find out more.

And with the long-awaited review of PSVAR still on the horizon, day one’s final session Navigating coach accessibility is another relevant and hard-hitting policy area operators should not miss. Inclusivity is at the

“Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do but is the existing legislation on accessibility aimed at the right target?”

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Welcome heart of what we do but is the existing legislation on accessibility aimed at the right target and do policymakers really understand the challenges our coach operators face? Listen to CPT operations director, Keith McNally, lead what is sure to be a lively debate on the practicalities and effectiveness of PSVAR accessibility regulations.

We’ll also be taking time to look at issues which will affect the shape of the bus sector for years to come in two of our day one sessions.

Our first panel session will be a hot topic discussion on ‘Regulatory Reform: What’s Best for Bus Users?’

Passenger Transport editor Robert Jack, will guide our stellar line-up of speakers to address the ‘franchise vs deregulation’ debate that’s high on the political agenda across different parts of the UK. There’s always plenty of rhetoric around the issue of regulatory control, Robert and our panel will focus the debate on the issue that really matters: how best to serve our passengers.

Next up, I will chair a session on ‘How much bus is enough?’ None of us needs to be convinced about the social and economic benefits of bus. But with rising costs, low levels of concessionary travel and pressures on public expenditure, operators and councils are having to take difficult decisions about the viability of some services.

We will therefore explore whether the specification of minimum levels of bus service is desirable and deliverable.

pay and inclusivity to attract new audiences to consider becoming a bus or coach driver. If the shortage of drivers is affecting your bottom line, then get aboard with this panel discussion, you won’t be disappointed.

The conference wraps up with two wide-ranging and forwardlooking sessions.

We’ve all grown familiar with the decline of five-a-week commuting and the collapse of concessionary travel but not all markets for bus and coach travel are heading in the same direction. Our policy director, Alison Edwards, will invite a range of speakers to help us look at the new markets our sector could

DAY TWO TOPICS

On day two we’ll look at perhaps the biggest issue both the coach and bus sectors have had to face in recent years - a nationwide shortage of drivers. We know this is a difficult issue that operators shouldn’t have to face alone so join us to find out how the government and industry are faring on its driver recruitment and retention action plan. We’ll also be debating whether more needs to be done on

“Let’s make the most of the time we have together to reconnect and drive our industry forward”

explore to attract more people out of their cars and address the change in people’s travel habits since the pandemic. If this is right up your street, then Friday afternoon’s panel on New Markets for coach and bus should be on your watch list.

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE

We conclude with a bang on the futuristic topic of emerging technology. One of the biggest talking points in recent months has been the rollout of driverless buses and how they could impact how we serve passengers. We’re also seeing in some areas, the trialling of ‘Uber’ style buses and DfT Ministers continue to show huge interest in demand responsive transport. Our panel therefore takes a look at operations, vehicles and the link to the customer to try and predict where the future lies, while asking: ‘Is industry driving tech or is tech driving industry?’

One other aspect of the future we’re all focused on is the general election next year and the strong prospect of a Labour government for the first time since 2010.

So complementing your morning coffee and kicking off the second day of conference we’ll have a keynote speech from Simon Lightwood MP, the shadow bus minister. We’ve all heard plans for more franchising and the creation of more municipal bus companies but what else might a future Labour administration bring to the bus and coach sector?

Join us to find out.

Through our exciting range of topics and key speakers, we hope these action-packed days of energy and collaboration allow you to have your say to leading decisionmakers and reconnect with colleagues. Whether you are an operator, supplier or an industry stakeholder, the 2023 UK bus and coach conference is about being proud of our work and lots of ambition about what we all can do to make bus and coach travel - the lifeblood of our public transport thrive even more in the future.

So let’s make the most of the time we have together to reconnect and drive our industry forward.

Above all, enjoy the conference and if there’s anything you need in the meantime, please do let me or my CPT team know. Q

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UK Bus & Coach 2023 APRIL 2022

DFT ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF BSIP FUNDING

In April 2022, Cornwall Council launched a bus fares pilot that will dramatically cut fares on all bus services in the county

A YEAR OF RECOVERY AND ONGOING CHALLENGES A protracted recovery from the pandemic and uncertainty over funding have held the UK bus and coach sector back over the past 12 months, but there have also been exciting examples of innovation and investment

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SIX-MONTH REPRIEVE FOR ENGLAND’S BUS FUNDING In March 2022, transport secretary Grant Shapps announced a further six months of funding support for buses in England beyond the planned end of the existing Bus Recovery Grant scheme on April 6.

The government allocated an additional £150m, to be shared by bus and light rail operators.

It said that the extended scheme represented the final tranche of pandemic-related support to operators and would run for six months until October 2022.

MAJORITY OF PUBLIC BACK BUS PRIORITY MEASURES Most people support measures which give buses greater priority on roads, according to

that councils can enjoy public and business support when it comes to giving buses priority on our roads.”

He added: “Our toolkit will help local authorities ensure widespread community support for measures they want to introduce.”

new research released by the Confederation of Passenger Transport in March 2022.

CPT’s research was undertaken

by Opinium and included 3,500 responses from the general public in Great Britain excluding London and 590 from business owners/ senior decision makers.

A clear majority (54%)of the general public supported bus priority schemes while only 15% opposed them. All regions of England as well as Scotland and Wales enjoyed more support than opposition. Support rose to 62% among businesses.

To help local authorities, CPT produced toolkits that included recommendations based on the research with both the general public and business owners on how to best communicate the benefits of bus priority.

Commenting on the findings of the research and toolkit launch CPT chief executive Graham Vidler said: “This research shows

In April 2022, the Department for Transport named 31 English counties, city regions and unitary authorities who would share £1bn of funding to support their Bus Service Improvement Plans. These plans are a central component of the government’s national bus strategy for England.

Almost half (48%) of the £1,084.3m allocated was shared by five city regions. The rest was distributed among 26 authorities.

However, concerns were raised that most (48) of the 79 authorities that submitted BSIPs ahead of October 2021’s deadline, as required by the government, won’t receive any of this funding.

The announcement was bundled with news of the indicative final settlements for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, with £5bn shared between seven mayoral combined authorities.

A DfT statement said that the bus elements of CRSTS allocations, together with funding for BSIPs and zero-emission buses, “form part of the £3bn for bus transformation announced in 2020”. It pointed out that around £2bn had also been paid to support bus and light rail services during the pandemic.

MAKE BUS TRAVEL NORMAL AGAIN MINISTERS URGED In April 2022, Department for Transport ministers was urged to be seen using buses to remind people that “it’s a normal thing to do”.

There was concern in the bus industry that the robust ‘avoid public transport’ message from the government during the pandemic was still influencing travel behaviour. Fare-paying bus users were currently 15% down on pre-pandemic levels - but the proportion of missing passengers is twice as high among older, concessionary travellers, with safety fears cited as the reason.

Speaking at the

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Review of 2022-23 ALBUM Conference in Blackpool.

Confederation of Passenger Transport chief executive Graham Vidler said the DfT needed to act.

“They need to start putting that right,” he said. “You’ll have seen that they started putting it right in a big way for rail with the Great British Rail Sale amongst other things. They need to do the same for the bus, and it can be some quite simple things.

“We are giving DfT’s external relations department, right now actually, this week, a bunch of ideas for where they can take ministers out, put them on buses and showcase that it’s a normal thing to do.

CORNWALL LAUNCHES BUS FARES REVOLUTION Cornwall Council was promising a revolution in its bus services after the launch on April 10, 2022, of the long-awaited bus fares pilot that will dramatically cut fares on all bus services in Cornwall.

It follows the launch of the ‘Any Ticket, Any Bus’ multi-operator ticketing scheme in January 2022.

Commercial fare-paying bus passengers saw their fares cut by, on average, one third for adults as part of the ‘Make Big Savings

By Bus’ scheme. A county-wide adult day ticket valid on all buses in Cornwall will cost just £5 with weekly tickets priced at £20 and monthly tickets at £80. Young people under 19 also benefit from the scheme with similar fare deals that include unlimited travel weekly tickets priced at £13.50.

The scheme will run for at least the next four years and is being funded by a £23.5m subsidy from the UK Government. It follows hard work in recent years to improve bus services in the county following the 2016 devolution deal agreed with the government.

There has been significant investment in the bus fleet by major operators Go Cornwall Bus and First South West and the council claims that the county now has the youngest supported network fleet. Bus stops and other associated infrastructure have also been upgraded and many now feature real-time information.

the coach sector that must be overcome if it is to achieve the government’s ambition of net zero by 2040.

The ZECT, established by the Confederation of Passenger Transport in December 2021, brings together key stakeholders including coach operators, manufacturers, finance and infrastructure specialists as well as observers from DfT, Welsh and Scottish governments.

Members were tasked with identifying the challenges facing the coach sector, supported with industry evidence.

The report identified the current lack of certainty over zero-emission technology as the most significant barrier facing the industry will future coaches be powered by electric, hydrogen or a combination of both? This lack of direction has resulted in hesitancy and presented multiple additional challenges.

JU N E 2022

SCOTLAND AND WALES OFFER FURTHER COVID RECOVERY FUNDING The Scottish Government confirmed in June that an additional £25.7m will be provided to extend recovery funding for the bus sector until the autumn. It said the Network Support Grant (NSG) Plus would be a temporary scheme that would support services and protect fares until October while patronage continues to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

The Welsh Government meanwhile announced that the bus industry in Wales would receive a support package worth £48m to help it recover from the impact of the pandemic and deal with emerging financial challenges, the Welsh Government has announced. Significantly, the Bus Emergency Package would see funding put in place until the end of the financial year in 2023.

AUGUST 2022

BUS RECOVERY GRANT EXTENDED UNTIL MARCH

JU LY 2022

‘LACK OF TECH HINDERS CLEAN COACHES’

In August 2022, the Department for Transport confirmed an extension to the Bus Recovery Grant for a further six months.

Bus services in England (outside London) would benefit from a further £130m of funding, with the end date of the scheme extended from October 2022 to March 2023.

This new tranche of funding means almost £2bn has been made available to over 160 bus operators

In July 2022, a task force dedicated to ensuring the coach sector’s transition to zero-emission alternatives is both workable and realistic provided insight into the challenges facing the sector on its road to destination zero.

The Zero Emission Coach Taskforce (ZECT) outlined, in a new report, the challenges facing

Blackpool Transport was named UK Bus Operator of the Year at the UK Bus Awards

during the pandemic. When the Bus Recovery Grant was previously extended the DfT said it would be the “final tranche of pandemicrelated support to operators”.

However, the DfT’s announcement did not repeat this assertion, a sign perhaps that the government realises recovery will take time.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “This funding will ensure millions across the country can continue to use vital bus services ... At a time when people are worried about rising costs, it’s more important than ever we save these bus routes for the millions who rely on them for work, school and shopping.”

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SHAPPS CONFIRMS PLANS FOR £2 ENGLAND FARE CAP In September 2022, the Department for Transport followed up its recent extension of the Bus Recovery Grant for a further six months by confirming long-rumoured plans for a new £2 fare cap on single bus journeys in England from January to March 2023.

In one of his final acts as transport secretary, Grant Shapps confirmed plans for the scheme on September 3. It will be backed by up to £60m of funding and aims to help passengers with travel costs for work, education, shopping and medical treatments over the winter months while they are facing pressures from the rising cost of living.

The average single fare for a three-mile journey is estimated at over £2.80, meaning that the new fare will save passengers almost 30% of the price every time they travel. A single fare can cost as much as £6 for a journey in rural areas. The new cap means passengers in those areas could save more than £60 a month if they took four single trips a week.

There were also hopes the scheme could help rebuild bus patronage. The government pointed to the low bus fares pilot in Cornwall, which launched earlier this year. The county’s bus network has already seen an indicative 10% increase in passenger numbers.

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UK Bus & Coach 2023 O CTO B E R 202 2

BUS FOR MERSEYSIDE IS A STAR OF THE SHOW

BLACKPOOL WINS ‘BUS OPERATOR OF THE YEAR’

One of the stars of the Euro Bus Expo show at the NEC in October 2022 was Alexander Dennis’s new Enviro400FCEV hydrogen-fuel cell double decker.

The vehicle was the first for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, this model’s launch customer, which is introducing 20 of them on Route 10A between St Helens and Liverpool.

Blackpool Transport was celebrating in November 2022 after winning the coveted UK Bus Operator of the Year Award at the UK Bus Awards in London.

The company was also named the winner of the Gold Award in the Top Shire Operator category before fending off competition from Diamond Bus North West and Hertfordshire-based operator Uno to win the top gong in the GrandPrix competition that pits the winners of the Top City, Top Shire and Top Independent Operator Awards against one another.

Blackpool’s win followed a pause by the industry’s premier awards scheme over the last two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. People, projects and

SPRINT COMPLETION LEADS TO PASSENGER BENEFITS Transport for West Midlands revealed in October 2022 that bus journey times on two corridors upgraded with extensive bus priority measures as part of the Sprint Bus Rapid Transit project are now up to 22% quicker.

Data from 12,000 bus trips on the A45 between Sheldon and Birmingham city centre and the A34 between Walsall and the city centre during September 2022 have been compared with the same routes during the same month in 2019.

Before the Sprint works were completed, TfWM said reliability had been hampered by buses being caught in congestion, particularly in the peak hours.

This meant journey times could fluctuate by more than 20 minutes.

However, with the completion of the priority works, evening peak time variability on the X51 route between Birmingham and Walsall has reduced by 31% while there is a reduction of 35% in variability for the X1 and X2 routes from Birmingham to Sheldon in the south-east of the city.

Average morning rush hour journey times into Birmingham City Centre are now 15% quicker on the A34 and 22% quicker on the A45. But the variability, which is the range of journey times - what TfWM describes as an indicator of service reliability was between 26% and 35% lower.

“The data shows that we’re already making a difference on the ground - saving people valuable time on their commute,” said West Midlands mayor Andy Street.

bus operators came together at Troxy, London to once again compete for the top awards across 22 categories at the scheme’s first in-person presentation ceremony held since 2019.

It was also a rewarding afternoon for Stagecoach. Britain’s biggest bus operator topped the medal table with 21 Gold, Silver and Bronze winners. It was the gold winner in seven categories.

N OV EM BER 2022

and Salford. The new Bee Network in those areas will commence on September 24, 2023.

Go-Ahead Group was a big beneficiary of the process with its Go North West business winning the first two large franchise contracts in Wigan and Bolton, and two small contracts.

Rotala-owned Diamond Bus secured seven small contracts.

JANUARY 2023

DECE MBER 2022

GREATER MANCHESTER FRANCHISE WINNERS REVEALED The first step towards dismantling deregulation in Greater Manchester took place on December 23 when Andy Burnham, the region’s mayor, announced the winners of the first contracts under the region’s new franchising regime.

Speaking at a special event to reveal the winners, the mayor said locally controlled bus services were fundamental to the Bee Network vision for a better public transport network for all and Manchester was once again blazing a trail. He continued: “Franchising will enable us to better integrate services as part of a joined-up network, with simpler fares and ticketing, a price cap so no one pays more than they need to, a better customer service offer and a single look for the whole network.”

The contracts relate to so-called ‘Sub-Area A’, covering the north west of the region and includes Wigan, Bolton and parts of Bury

The £2 fare cap for bus journeys in England began on January 1, 2023

A new Alexander Dennis bus for Merseyside was on show at Euro Bus Expo

£2 FARE CAP LAUNCHES IN ENGLAND Bus users in England began benefitting from the £2 fare cap for bus journeys following the launch of the scheme on January 1, 2023.

Supported by £60m from the government, all adult, concession and child single tickets on eligible routes were capped at £2 for three months. This was intended to help with rising living costs and encourage greater use of buses.

On January 6, Britain’s biggest bus operator, Stagecoach, announced that over 300,000 bus users had already taken advantage of the new £2 single fares.

Large numbers have travelled on its popular 700 ‘Coastliner’ service between Portsmouth and Brighton and its 125 service between Bolton and Preston.

Scaled up across all participating operators over two weeks the number of journeys is likely to have exceeded two million.

CPT SEEKS TO INFLUENCE BUS FRANCHISING PLANS In January 2023, the Confederation of Passenger Transport published a guide for operators and local transport authorities addressing some of the key issues to consider in moving towards a franchise regime.

Bus franchising was a hot topic during 2022 with Greater Manchester taking its first steps towards putting its regime into practice and Wales consulting on sweeping changes to create a national franchising regime.

That was expected set to continue in 2023 as other large cities in England, as well as in Scotland and Wales, examine the model.

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Review of 2022-23 While CPT believes that partnership working between operators and LTAs is the best way to plan and deliver improvements for passengers, it recognises that franchising is playing a bigger role in the landscape and on behalf of its members wants to engage with those who are considering it.

“Ultimately, our goal is to ensure whatever model is chosen, it delivers the best outcomes for passengers,” explained Josh Miles, director of CPT Cymru.

“That’s why we’ve published a ready reckoner for operators and LTAs on some of the key issues to consider in moving to a franchise regime. The document is a practical approach to franchising and is our contribution to the discussion and looks to examine some of the tensions that exist in moving towards franchising.”

affordable for all and ensure there was a “modern and efficient network” across England.

“Getting more people onto reliable and affordable buses will strengthen communities and help grow the economy,” he added.

“I’m determined to ensure that no matter where you live, you have the same opportunities to get around easily and can feel pride in your local area - which is why protecting our local bus services is so important.”

CAVForth will be the world’s first operational, full-sized, self-driving bus service

Transport secretary Mark Harper visited Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus in February 2023, where he met with senior managers and toured the production line. “We were delighted to be able to share with the secretary of state our vision and plans for Wrightbus and what this means for Northern Ireland and the wider United Kingdom,” said Ian Gillott, MD of Wrightbus parts and services.

SCOTLAND AXES PLANS TO CUT COVID BUS FUNDING The Scottish Government dropped plans to scrap emergency bus funding and revived the previous Network Support Grant Plus (NSG+) scheme in January 2023.

Scottish operators became the first in the UK to return to normal funding arrangements following the Covid-19 pandemic in early October after NSG+ was wound down. It followed a previous extension of the scheme in the summer of 2022. The reversal came despite Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth making it clear to operators in early October that the Scottish Government would not provide any further temporary financial support, despite warnings from operators that widespread cuts would follow.

F E B RUA RY 2023

CAVFORTH IS EXTENDED WITH £10M OF SUPPORT The world’s first full sized, selfdriving bus service was awarded a share of £81m in joint UK government and industry support for self-driving technology in February 2023.

CAVForth2, which is jointly funded by the UK Government’s

HARPER DROPS IN AT WRIGHTBUS

First Bus was the beneficiary of ZEBRA funding announced in March 2023

REPRIEVE AS ENGLAND BUS SUPPORT EXTENDED

Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and project partners Fusion Processing Ltd, Stagecoach, Alexander Dennis, Edinburgh Napier University and the University of West of England, received £10.4m to launch the world’s first operational, fullsized, self-driving bus service.

This project will see Stagecoach extend the 14-mile route of the existing CAVForth autonomous bus service from Edinburgh Park station across the Forth Road Bridge - poised to launch to the public this spring after extensive testing - on to Dunfermline city centre. The additional five-mile section of the route will take in more complex autonomous driving scenarios on busy category A and B roads, mixing with city centre traffic. Capability to accomplish this challenging driving will come from an upgraded version of the CAVStar® ADS (Automated Drive System) that will be developed and supplied by Fusion Processing Ltd during the project.

The government announced further emergency funding for England’s buses in February 2023, just days before operators were expected to announce significant cuts to their networks.

Analysis by the Confederation of Passenger Transport had suggested that more than 1,600 bus routes in England were poised to be cut, leaving the country with fewer than 10,000 registered local bus services for the first time.

It is understood that eleventhhour negotiations between officials and ministers from the Department for Transport and the Treasury secured a deal that would release £75m to extend the current £2 fare cap on England’s buses outside London until June 30.

A further £80m would be used to extend the current Bus Recovery Grant scheme until the same date.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted to make bus travel

MARCH 2023

FIRST AND WRIGHTBUS GAIN ZEBRA FUNDING In March 2023, four local transport authorities in England were awarded a share of £25.3m of funding to support the introduction of 117 additional zero-emission buses.

Announced by the Department for Transport, the vehicles in this latest round of Zero Emission Buses Regional Areas scheme (ZEBRA) funding, will be manufactured in Northern Ireland

by Wrightbus and operated by First Bus. It brings total ZEBRA funding to £294m for up to 1,395 zero-emission buses.

As a result of the additional funding, which boosts existing ZEBRA projects, First Bus has announced that two of its depots will operate fully electric fleets

by March 2024, with York and Norwich set to become the UK’s first bus depots outside of London to reach this milestone. At the conclusion of the ZEBRA projects, First Bus will have over 600 zeroemission buses in its fleet. Q

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Your Bus Journey is now V\[ VU [OL YVHK Better journeys for bus passengers

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Transport Focus can help local transport HUK I\Z VWLYH[VYZ KL[HPSLK JVTWHYHISL authorities put passengers at the heart of ILUJOTHYRLK WHZZLUNLY MLLKIHJR the National Bus Strategy and Bus Service Improvement Plans.

0U HKKP[PVU L_WLY[ HK]PJL MYVT ;YHUZWVY[ -VJ\Z JHU OLSW WHY[ULYZOPWZ WYV]PKL ILZ[ Transport Focus research, including a new version of our Bus Passenger Survey, can give authorities detailed WYHJ[PJL N\PKHUJL VU! comparable, benchmarked passenger feedback.

O ZL[[PUN [HYNL[Z MVY QV\YUL` [PTLZ YLSPHIPSP[` Our expert advisors can help provide best practice PTWYV]LTLU[Z HUK J\Z[VTLY ZH[PZMHJ[PVU guidance on: • passenger representation on bus serviceO KL]LSVWPUN H 7HZZLUNLY *OHY[LY improvement plans • setting targets for journey times, reliabilityO WYVTV[PUN [OL WHZZLUNLY PU[LYLZ[ improvements and customer satisfaction PU SVJHS I\Z WHY[ULYZOPWZ • developing a Passenger Charter • promoting the passenger interest in localO busN\PKHUJL VU W\[[PUN [VNL[OLY ,UOHUJLK partnerships.

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Our new best practice toolkit on passenger ;OPZ ^PSS OLSW [YHUZWVY[ H\[OVYP[PLZ I\Z VWLYH[VYZ HUK .V]LYUTLU[Z [V representation on Bus Service Improvement Plans PU]LZ[ PU [OL [OPUNZ [OH[ TH[[LY TVZ[ [V J\YYLU[ HUK M\[\YL I\Z WHZZLUNLYZ is available online at www.transportfocus.org.uk

To find out more about how we can help you, speak

;V Ä UK V\[ TVYL ZWLHR [V +H]PK :PKLIV[[VT KPYLJ[VY! to Linda McCord, Senior Stakeholder Manager: david.sidebottom@transportfocus.org.uk linda.mccord@transportfocus.org.uk

TF Bus Cos ride.indd 1

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

Transport Focus

BUS PASSENGERS HAVE THEIR SAY

£2 fare increased bus use 7%

With a strong emphasis on evidence-based research, Transport Focus ensures that we know what is happening on the ground

32% 61%

ransport Focus is the independent watchdog for transport users and has been promoting the interests of bus and coach passengers in England, outside of London, since 2010. With a strong emphasis on evidence-based policy development and research, we ensure that we know what is happening on the ground. This knowledge is used to influence decisions on behalf of passengers to secure improvements and better understand what is needed for more people to give bus a go.

Our latest survey of bus passenger satisfaction, Your Bus Journey, is now on the road. We’re looking at how satisfied passengers across England and Scotland are with their bus journey. The survey will be used to make the case for future improvements and identify good practice. This will help transport authorities, bus operators and governments to invest in the things that matter most to current and future bus passengers.

Building on over a decade of running our previous Bus Passenger Survey and working with the industry we have found new and innovative ways to capture and report on what bus passengers want from their journeys.

Researchers will now approach passengers at bus stops as well as on board buses to help encourage participation on a wider selection of routes. They can also now share the online version of the survey with the passengers they speak to through a QR code as well as by a text message or email.

We will represent the experiences of around 36,000 bus passenger journeys across 35 areas of England and six regional transport partnerships in Scotland.

We’re already getting some interesting headline results and verbatim comments which we’re feeding back to operators and

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authorities. We will publish more detailed results and analysis from passengers at six-monthly intervals with the first scheduled for August 2023.

This builds on the work we’re doing to help put passengers at the heart of the National Bus Strategy and Bus Service Improvement Plans. By using Transport Focus research and policy insight we are giving local transport authorities and bus operators valuable consumer-focused evidence.

Our expert advice can help provide best practice guidance on: Q setting targets for journey times, reliability, improvements and customer satisfaction; Q developing a Passenger Charter; Q promoting the passenger interest in local bus partnerships; Q guidance on putting together Enhanced Partnership Plans.

The team at Transport Focus is increasingly involved with a number of Enhanced Partnerships. This ranges from roles on working groups to develop some of the outcomes

O Yes, I am already using buses more O Yes, I might use buses more O No, it makes no difference

Awareness of the £2 capped fare

35% 53% 13%

O Yes, I was aware O I might have heard something O No, I wasn't aware

to benefit passengers through to more formal roles on partnership Boards and passenger forums. All of the guidance we’ve published, along with the briefings we held on them, can be found on our website.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to look at what exactly drives bus passenger satisfaction. This has

Importance of journey aspects and satisfaction level Importance Punctuality/reliability

Satisfaction 16%

The time the journey on the bus took

11%

72% 84%

The availability of seating or space to stand

8%

86%

The cleanliness of the inside of the bus

8%

80%

Overall satisfaction with the bus stop or bus station

7%

75%

Frequency of buses on that route

7%

66%

The behaviour of other passengers

6%

78%

The temperature inside the bus

6%

80% 88%

Safety of the driving

6%

The information on how busy the bus would be before travelling

6%

The helpfulness and attitude of the driver

5%

78%

Value for money of your ticket

5%

68%

Your personal security on the bus

5%

Provision of information during the journey

4%

58%

85% 65%

involved looking at what we’ve found from our continuous Bus User Survey which was launched in September 2021 to monitor passenger experience as we emerged from the pandemic. It has successfully filled the gap ahead of Your Bus Journey as it started in early 2023. We plan to keep this survey running in parallel until results from Your Bus Journey appear later this year.

In our key driver research we asked passengers about 14 aspects of their journey experience to find out what impacts the overall satisfaction of their journey the most. This helps us understand where to focus efforts to improve should be focussed.

We found that satisfaction with punctuality/reliability is, by a distance, the most important driver of overall journey satisfaction. The time the journey on the bus took is the second most important.

Making up the top six in importance are satisfaction with the availability of seating or space to stand, the cleanliness of the inside of the bus, overall satisfaction with the bus stop or bus station and frequency of buses on that route.

While we know value for money has always been a priority for passengers, many are facing particular financial challenges at the moment. So it’s encouraging to see the £2 bus fare cap come into force in January and even better that it’s now being extended.

We asked passengers what they thought about the £2 bus fare.

Seven per cent said they are already using the bus more and almost a third (32%) say they might use buses more but haven’t yet.

Over half (53%) said they were aware of the £2 fare. This was higher among regular bus users, with at least two-thirds aware.

The impact is clear in our latest Bus User Survey report which found 73% of bus passengers were satisfied with value for money.

This is the highest since the survey began in September 2021.

So an interesting time for bus passengers as well as the bus and coach industry! As always we’ll be there to ensure passengers’ needs are front and centre of improvements that we hope will ensure sustained growth in passenger journeys. Q

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

Buses are the most popular method of public transport on these islands

BUS USERS STILL NEED TO SEE A LEVELLING UP

McGill's CEO and CPT President Ralph Roberts explains why we should be pressing the case of the bus user

he huge issue in the bus industry at the moment is seen as the funding uncertainty.

Whilst that is a very real and immediate issue, I am much more concerned about the long-term history and future of our bus industry. The pandemic suddenly accelerated our trajectory of modal shift away from bus and I had real hope that the Johnson government was going to produce something that shifted the balance in order to stabilise this and hopefully reverse it.

The big ideas of a National Bus Strategy, Levelling Up, Electric Bus Towns and the £2 fare cap were enough to make me hope that the time for bus had come. For once, buses were being seen as essential

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One of the unique factors of the current situation is that the drop in footfall is consistent across the majority of routes. This means that only the super performers are covering their costs. These super performers have their issues too as people work and shop from home and travel less, meaning there is less money to use internally,

right at the very top and a “new era” for bus was just around the corner. It remains to be seen whether it will be back to business as usual or if these strategies will be funded properly.

There are threats for the National Bus Strategy on both sides. We have seen withdrawals from partnerships and retrenchment within networks.

The fragile situation around the economics of bus operation mean that companies either contract or the missing revenue is replaced by government. How sustainable is this though? For sure, businesses will re-evaluate and adjust to the new circumstances but time will be needed… as well as cash - these new opportunities will not fund themselves.

“The BSOG replacement must protect the urban bus user whilst boosting, or even saving, rural operations. BSOG has the ability to do so much more for bus users”

cross-subsidising loss-making but essential services. In some areas, whole networks are in the balance.

The other huge factor in this is cost inflation. This is placing a straightjacket on network managers as they try to balance cost with income.

Businesses will need to undergo restructuring in order to survive and we have seen quite a bit of this already. There has been significant merger and acquisition activity with much more to come. Depot closures and sales will factor heavily as we adjust. What we are left with will hopefully be a mix of old and new that looks familiar in terms of bus services, but leaves companies more agile and more able to develop new strategies around the mobility

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McGill's needs of the nation.

This is all heavily dependent upon governments, local and national, accepting the importance of buses in the fabric of our communities. I love rail almost as much as I love bus, but I sound like a rail-hater when I point out the inordinate levels of public purse investment in rail whilst bus infrastructure gets the equivalent of breadcrumbs.

The government is looking to reform Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) in England - already long since done in Scotland and Wales. If the change is simply to ape what was done in Scotland and use the existing budget and convert to reimbursing on a kilometre basis, all that will happen is that urban bus operators will be further under the cosh due to the reduction in BSOG income.

Conversely, rural operators will be happy with the increase on their smaller and faster buses.

Whilst I wouldn’t describe this as meddling, the industry now needs consistency from HMG more than ever. The BSOG replacement must protect the urban bus user whilst boosting, or even saving, rural operations.

BSOG has the ability to do so much more for bus users.

BUS USERS DESERVE MORE

The totemic position of rail as the majority mode of public transport must be challenged. This is at the root of our problems. It doesn’t mean that rail should get less, it means that bus users should get more. If bus users received the same level of funding and policy as rail users, we wouldn’t need BSOG at all.

Note the use of the word ‘users’.

This debate about survival and sustainability must be diverted away from modes and companies and instead be focussed upon the people who need to move around.

Only then, can the levelling up requirements be properly seen.

The same argument stands when talking about cars - it needs to be about car users. For example, why should a person in a car get allocated 11 times more road space than a person on a bus? For me, this frames the debate more accurately and lets us focus on why this country feels that the person in

the car is so much more important than the person in the bus.

All of this is a matter of timing.

If we see continued support for the above policies and a desire to see them to completion in order to drive the next round of BSIP applications, I will feel very positive about our future. This is urgent, and the Department for Transport needs to apply strong pressure to get the current Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) into place whilst also working with local authorities and bus companies on how and where to improve the BSIPs that weren’t funded.

Just imagine if the DfT had a bus team that was as large as rail!

Attrition is the watchword here - the longer the transformation takes at local level the more services we will lose and the more bus companies will entrench.

“Only when the plan is laid out, clearly and consistently, with a roadmap for all to see will we start to change attitudes towards buses in town halls” and the position they hold within our towns and cities. What about bus though? How many largescale and well-funded bus hubs are there? Some for sure but not on the scale of rail stations. Why is this? Take London as an example.

Victoria coach station should be a centrepiece of infrastructure in London. It should have a hugely prominent position and be safeguarded in the way that rail stations are. The important role that coaches have to play in the movement of people to and from the capital deserves better facilities and prominence.

Coach travel is growing, not declining. It suffers little to no disruption from industrial action and is very consistent as a result.

All of this with no public purse subsidy! At the very least, the intercity coach passenger should get the same treatment as the inter-city rail passenger in fuel duty terms it makes no sense to discriminate in this way. This would be true levelling up in action.

In terms of franchising (read business confiscation), ticketing overhaul, Mobility as a Service and Demand Responsive Transport, I believe that all of these will have

CULTURE CHANGE

I would issue a set of guidelines for local government. I would incentivise compliance and withdraw general funding for non-compliance. The traffic commissioners would get the powers to take stronger action against local authorities who stifle the ability to let people travel efficiently by bus. We are into culture change here, and this starts at the top. Only when the plan is laid out, clearly and consistently, with a roadmap for all to see will we start to change attitudes towards buses in town halls.

Placemaking has long been an activity within public transport.

Just think of the large rail stations

their part to play. I see that the council-owned bus companies in south Wales have woken up to the fact that ‘franchising’ could mean their operations fold and cease to trade as a result. My view is simple, if local authorities want the buses back, they should just buy back what they sold instead of trying to steal them back for free. They wouldn’t get away with this in any other business sector so how they have managed to contrive a state-sanctioned theft process for bus businesses is quite incredible.

WE MUST PRESS THE CASE

We all know that franchised operations can work. What it cannot do is magic away the elements that are constraining bus operation currently. Bus users still need to see a levelling up against car users, the cost base for franchised or publicly-owned buses will not differ from that of a privately operated bus and the cost of lowering fares, introducing DRT or MaaS will be the same.

Whilst political desires cause politicians to ignore these facts, we must make sure that we continue to press the case of the bus user.

There are many things that I know - I know that this industry is full of talented and committed people. I know that the future of the industry is safe in their hands regardless of what regulatory or ownership regime is in place. I know that bus is the most popular method of public transport on these islands. If only the decisionmakers at the highest levels of government knew this too. Q

Coach travel is growing, not declining. It suffers little to no disruption from industrial action and is very consistent as a result

15

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20/03/2023 11:36

UK Bus & Coach 2023

First Bus

REACHING ZERO-EMISSIONS THROUGH ELECTRIFICATION

First Bus is striving to be a sustainability leader, and is harnessing the power of collaboration and innovation to get there

Last year at First Bus, we made huge strides in our journey from being an asset-focused business to one that puts the customer, our people, and the planet at the heart of everything we do.

There was no doubt that the electrification of our services and depots would be a strategic focus for 2023, as we continue to advance our decarbonisation plans and welcome hundreds of new electric buses into our depots.

In the first three months, we’ve already made great progress from launching the UK’s first zero-emissions autonomous bus, to securing funding for exciting regional electrification projects.

Throughout 2023, we’re certain that there are more opportunities on the horizon as further attention turns to bus to help the UK achieve net-zero targets.

L

This year we launched the UK’s first zero-emission autonomous bus service

LAUNCHING A ZERO-EMISSION AUTONOMOUS BUS

Our first major project this year was the launch of the UK’s first zero-emission autonomous bus service in Oxfordshire. The project was established to demonstrate the application of autonomous vehicle technology to real-world service provision, and by the time it’s completed at the end of 2023, the service will connect to Didcot Parkway railway station - a key Oxfordshire transport hub. The all-electric service, which serves Milton Park Business, Science and Technology Park as of March 2, is ground-breaking not just for us, but for the industry as a whole.

Autonomous vehicles have been increasingly part of the transport conversation, and as the sustainability of our transport networks is imperative, it was important that the two can co-exist. The project tested our ability to seamlessly integrate new technologies into our services, and in our success, we have provided

securing further ZEBRA funding to allow our York and Norwich depots to become the UK’s first outside of London to operate fully electric fleets. We will be cofunding an additional 117 electric buses across these areas - Bramley in West Yorkshire and Hoeford in Hampshire - meaning our Hoeford depot will also operate full electric commercial routes. At the conclusion of all our ZEBRA projects, we will have over 600 zero-emission buses in our fleet.

Of course, electrified fleets require electrified depots, so we are installing the necessary infrastructure to house our new state-of-the-art vehicles across ZEBRA regions. The Caledonia depot transformation in Glasgow is a pathfinder for us, and its success (alongside the things that we learnt) has built confidence in our ability to complete large-scale environmental projects across the UK. WHAT’S NEXT?

Further ZEBRA funding will allow our York depot to become fully electric

an example to the industry of how technological advancements can support modal shift and work alongside decarbonisation plans.

The launch was also an example of successful collaboration over a prolonged period of time. This project took five years to come to fruition and is thanks to a consortium of local businesses and organisations - including Fusion Processing Ltd, Oxfordshire County Council, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and Zipabout. Working closely with our partners, we were able to utilise our wider resources and expertise to complete the project efficiently and add another exciting credit to our portfolio of electric services.

“Our first major project this year was the launch of the UK’s first zero-emission autonomous bus service in Oxfordshire” ZEBRA FUNDING AND ALL-ELECTRIC FLEETS

Last year, we were able to introduce a whole host of EVs to our networks - including what was at the time the largest rollout outside of London - thanks to Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) funding.

We have continued this momentum into 2023 too,

Now the wider business, our colleagues, customers and the communities we serve will see the benefits of the ZEBRA funding wins come to life throughout the next two years, as every regional project in England is set to be completed

by March 2024. We’re also working with our partners to ensure we upskill our people and take them on this journey with us, so they are armed with the training and support required to service this state-of-the-art technology.

As we maintain our momentum in achieving our pledge of an entirely zero-emission fleet by 2035, we will continue to work together with local transport authorities and partners, so we have the best chance of realising opportunities to accelerate the decarbonisation of our depots and fleets.

We want to continue to lead the way and be a sustainability leader in the transport industry, and it is collaboration and innovation that will get us there. n

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20/03/2023 15:40

UK Bus & Coach 2023

EPM Group

EPM GROUP AIMS FOR INNOVATION IN THE EFFICIENCY CHAIN

Software solutions specialist aims to support bus operators as they grapple with uncertainties

t’s a challenging time for bus operators with continuing uncertainties surrounding future funding, the building back of patronage following the Covid-19 pandemic, driver shortages and increasing traffic congestion.

Many are placing their operations and networks under the microscope, but software solutions specialist EPM Group (EPM Bus Solutions and Omnibus Solutions) believes the answer to many of the problems created by these complex issues can be found by focusing on improving efficiencies and streamlining processes.

“We’ve been working very closely on the efficiency chain,” says Nick Brookes, software director at EPM Group. “We are looking at the complete range of interactions that take place in any bus operator to see how we can help them realise savings and become even more agile.”

The focus of EPM Group is on realising efficiencies by creating an integrated operational platform.

The key components of this vision are drivers and depot allocation, customer services and accidents, and engineering processes.

“We want the data and processes from each of those stages to talk to one another,” explains Nick. “Bus operators create huge amounts of data, but a lot of it is lost in translation. We want to take the data and translate it into information that enables bus operators to become more efficient.”

I

HELPING WITH DRIVER RETENTION

Driver and vehicle allocation has been a key focus for the group.

The Omnibus depot allocation system, OmniDAS, for real-time driver and vehicle management has been enhanced with a move to the cloud and the addition of

a smartphone app that creates a complete self-service system for drivers to manage their working life. This includes the ability to offer a remote sign-on facility, meaning drivers don’t even have to visit their home depot to sign on for work each day.

Nick believes the sum of these parts is a system that can assist operators to improve their driver retention goals, an important development at a time when much of the industry is struggling with shortages.

“It can really help drivers manage their home life while ensuring they are informed and connected with their colleagues,” he explains. “They can see their shift patterns, apply for overtime, swap their shifts - in other words, they don’t have to go to a front desk or speak to someone. There’s still oversight of what’s going on, but it becomes a back-office process. It makes things more efficient for everyone.”

Nick reveals there are plans to build on this self-service approach. A new bulletin board system within the app aims to supplement the traditional depot noticeboard, allowing staff to review important company information on the go.

Further enhancements are likely to see the app integrated into EPM’s accident management systems, in other words, drivers will be able to record vital details and evidence in the immediate aftermath of an accident. And on that EPM plans to later this year improve its accident reporting solution with new features that will assist operators in tracking accidents from when they happened right through to closure and then analysis afterwards. Nick adds this will allow operators to scrutinise insights that will help them drive down the possibility of a similar accident reoccurring.

INTEGRATING SYSTEMS

Those plans to integrate the app and accident reporting hint at other aspirations. Nick is keen to evolve the EPM Group of solutions into an expanded platform that helps bus operators realise efficiencies. He describes this as being about creating a “single source of truth”.

“What we want to do is create outputs for operators that offer a good, accurate and consistent overview,” he adds. “We want to streamline workflows and integrate them across the business.”

Nick highlights the operations platform elements of EPM’s offering. “Our Customer Resolution Centre is integrated into that,” he explains. “We wanted it to work harder to help operators rebuild patronage and it’s an area where some operators have struggled in the past.”

While other systems are about logging these interactions, EPM’s platform aims to be more proactive in addressing them.

It can automatically consolidate customer feedback from multiple sources to produce a complete overview of customer interactions.

“It means operators can respond to customers quickly and efficiently from a range of platforms, including social media,” adds Nick. “Downstream processes, such as creating feedback forms from the staff involved or evidence requests are automated. It’s about resolving the issue quickly and creating a consolidated view of the entire process.”

Another example of that integration is in engineering systems. While EPM has no plans to create an engineering solution of its own, it is working with third-party providers to ensure systems ‘talk’ to one another in order to streamline processes.

Nick says a good example is if a vehicle is off-road for repair: the engineering system will talk with EPM’s systems to ensure the depot allocation system (OmniDAS) knows that the vehicle can’t be allocated for work for that day.

It means that telephone calls or potentially unreliable paper-based methods between engineering and operations departments are avoided and there’s also the advantage that the entire process is automated.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

Nick Brookes

“What we want to do is create outputs for operators that offer a good, accurate and consistent overview.

We want to streamline workflows and integrate them across the business”

A big focus for some time for the EPM Group product team has been on control room processes.

“Our BIRS (Bus Incident Reporting System) solution enables operators to work flexibly and efficiently, but we want to expand on that,” explains Nick.

“A lot of information already flows into and out of the operator’s control room, and we want to consolidate that data into a single dashboard. This is a key focus for us because it will allow control room staff to make more informed and proactive decisions.”

He adds that this process will take disparate systems out of their silos, consolidate them and then use historical data to allow operators to determine trends.

“Efficiency is a big focus for us this year,” Nick concludes. Q

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UK Bus & Coach 2023

Programme

THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME The UK Bus & Coach Conference 2023. The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham

DAY 1 THURSDAY 30 MARCH

Host: Ralph Roberts, CPT President 10:00 REFRESHMENTS INCLUDING NETWORKING & SUPPLIER EXHIBITION 10:45 OFFICIAL OPENING & WELCOME

12:25 SESSION 4 HOW MUCH BUS IS ENOUGH?

16:00 SESSION 7 NAVIGATING COACH ACCESSIBILITY

The economic, social and environmental benefits of bus services are clear. But as rising costs, low levels of concessionary travel and reducing public expenditure combine to force service reductions, we ask what action is needed to specify and deliver a minimum level of bus service for different communities.

Since 2020, the coach sector has dealt with a crippling pandemic while also facing the enormous challenge of transfor ming its fleet’s accessibility. With a pragmatic medium-term solution in place and a review of the regulations pending, we ask whether PSVAR is the right approach for coach.

10:50 SESSION 1 KEYNOTE: WELCOME FROM LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL CBE

13:00 LUNCH INCLUDING NETWORKING & SUPPLIER EXHIBITION

Join UK transport leader and bus enthusiast Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE - former Deputy Director UK Bus for FirstGroup, Commissioner for Transport for London and now Chair of Network Rail for the official opening of the UK Bus and Coach Conference 2023.

14:15 SESSION 5 THE ROAD TO ZERO-EMISSION: DECARBONISING BUSES EVERYWHERE

11:10 SESSION 2 KEYNOTE: A VIEW FROM GOVERNMENT

Buses and Roads Minister Richard Holden MP provides an update on the Government’s work in the bus and coach sector. The keynote will be followed by a Q&A. 11:40 Session 3 Regulatory Reform: What’s Best for Bus Users?

Across the UK, recent legislation has simplified or made possible the introduction of franchising or municipal operation.

Numerous authorities are considering these options.

Our panel will discuss the only question which really matters: how best to deliver services that meet the needs and expectations of our customers?

16:45 CLOSING REMARKS

Ralph Roberts, CPT President 19:00 CPT ANNUAL DINNER 2023

DAY 2 FRIDAY 31 MARCH

Host: Graham Vidler, CPT Chief Executive

With government likely to set an end date for the sale of diesel buses in less than a decade, how do we make the transition achievable in rural areas and for SMEs? Our panel will discuss the challenges and how, working with government and other stakeholders, we can plan a fully zero-emission bus fleet.

09:00 REFRESHMENTS INCLUDING NETWORKING & SUPPLIER EXHIBITION 09:30 OPENING & WELCOME 09:40 SESSION 1 KEYNOTE: IF LABOUR WAS IN THE DRIVING SEAT

15:15 SESSION 6 COACH AND THE CITY

Coach tourism is back, with more and more people attracted by the affordability, sustainability and quality of coach travel.

But coach tourism depends on accessible destinations which welcome passengers and understand the critical role the industry plays for tourism, air quality and economic growth.

Our panel will discuss good practice for the coach friendly city, considering the role of coach in local transport and tourism strategies, and how we tackling the key issue of squaring net zero targets and vehicle restrictions against accessibility.

10:45 SESSION 3 THE ROAD TO ZEROEMISSION: WHAT NEXT FOR COACHES?

CPT’s Zero Emission Coach Taskforce (ZECT) has shown the path to zero-emission coaches is far from clear. Join ZECT Chair, Ian Luckett and Jessica Matthew of the DfT’s local transport team to hear what the government expects from industry - operators, manufacturers, the supply chain and beyond - and how they plan to support the sector’s transition to zero emission.

11:15 SESSION 4 ALL CHANGE? NEW MARKETS FOR COACH AND BUS

Travel habits have changed since the pandemic and we can’t rely solely on yesterday’s passengers making yesterday’s journeys.

Our speakers look at how we can attract more people out of their cars. Chaired by CPT’s Director of Policy Alison Edwards, and the panel includes Andrew Bradley, Senior Delivery Lead Net Zero Travel & Transport at NHS England.

11:45 Session 5 Who’s in the driving seat? Us or tech?

Join Shadow Bus Minister, Simon Lightwood MP, to officially open day two of the 2023 CPT conference. Hear his thoughts on what a Labour government could bring to the sector and take the opportunity to ask your questions.

ChatGPT, autonomous vehicles and living on our phones. The media narrative continues to assert that tech is the future. Our panel takes a look at operations, vehicles and the link to the customer and predicts where the future lies, while asking: Is industry driving tech? Or is tech driving industry?

10:00 Session 2 This industry needs drivers

12:15 CLOSING REMARKS

Recruiting and retaining more bus and coach drivers is a burning issue for our members. Our panel of experts will update on industry and government progress to tackle these crippling shortages.

Graham Vidler, CPT Chief Executive 12:25 REFRESHMENTS INCLUDING NETWORKING & SUPPLIER EXHIBITION

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Speaker profiles

THE SPEAKERS Biographies of those who we will hear from at the UK Bus & Coach Conference 2023

David joined England’s largest municipal operator, Nottingham City Transport 16 years ago, and was promoted to the position of Managing Director with his hometown bus company in 2021.

David started his current role as Transport Focus’s Director in June 2011. He initially started working at Transport Focus in 2006 as a Passenger Link Manager before being promoted to the post of Bus Passenger Director in 2010.

David is now responsible for Transport Focus’s work for transport users across Northern England, Wales and Scotland.

LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL CBE

Chair of Network Rail Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE, has been the Chair of Network Rail since July 2015, and Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation since July 2017. Peter was previously Commissioner of Transport for London for nearly 10 years.

He started his transport career in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee. He is a trustee of London’s Transport Museum and of the Science Museum Group.

TIM GASTON

ROBERT JACK

Editor, Passenger Transport

Tim is the Director of Public Transport Services at the National Transport Authority of Ireland.

In this role Tim’s team has responsibility for managing the provision of all state-subsidised bus, train and tram services in Ireland. Public transport services are provided through a number of different mechanisms including tendering (light rail and some bus services), direct award contracts (Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail) and licencing private bus and coach operators.

Robert Jack has worked as a journalist, editor and publisher in the passenger transport sector for 24 years. In 2011 he co-founded Passenger Transport, a highly respected journal covering all modes of public transport.

RICHARD HOLDEN MP

PAUL LYNCH

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport

Regional Director London & Wales, Stagecoach

Richard Holden MP has been a Member of Parliament for North West Durham since the 2019 general election. He has served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport since October 2022.

Director of Public Transport Services, National Transport Authority of Ireland

Paul Lynch is Stagecoach’s Regional Director for London and Wales.

He has worked in the bus industry for over 35 years in various UK locations and overseas, and in different regulatory environments.

He joined Stagecoach in 1994 as a result of the privatisation of London Buses.

Rural Policy & Campaigns Officer, CPRE Brad Taylor worked in local government before joining CPRE, the countryside charity as the Rural Policy & Campaigns officer where he leads on CPRE’s transport policy work. He is currently campaigning the Every Village Every Hour bus campaign to create a more inclusive, connected and sustainable rural England.

GIDEON SALUTIN

Researcher, Social Market Foundation Gideon Salutin writes on transport policy and recommends government initiatives to reduce poverty and inequality in the sector, with his work recently cited in the Telegraph. Recently this has focussed on the emergent field of transport poverty. Prior to joining the SMF, Gideon worked as a policy researcher in Canada with a focus on net zero.

CATHERINE DEMARCO

Partnerships Director, First Bus Catherine is Partnerships Director of First Bus, working across the UK business to advise on policy and strategy in support of local business units. Prior to joining First Bus, she worked for 17 years as a civil servant in the Department for Transport, building experience and knowledge in a wide variety of roles including in rail, skills and innovation, local transport and the environment. She has also worked overseas in strategy consulting, including in South Africa.

DAVID ASTILL

Managing Director, Nottingham City Transport

BRAD TAYLOR

DAVID SIDEBOTTOM

Director, Transport Focus

TIM GRIFFEN

Project Officer, Zemo Partnership Tim manages Zemo Partnership’s Bus Working Group, overseeing the delivery of projects including the Zero Emission Bus Certification scheme used by the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland, an accreditation scheme for the repowering of diesel buses to zero-emission (ZEVRAS),

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UK Bus & Coach 2023 supporting the development of funding and incentive schemes like ZEBRA, developing a voluntary Zero Emission Coach Certification in the UK and sharing best practice across the UK through the Zero Emission Bus Workshop and publications like the Zero Emission Bus Guide. Prior to joining Zemo Partnership in 2021, Tim completed the graduate bus engineering programme at Go-Ahead Group.

BRADLEY FOX

Business Development Director, EV Fleet Bradley is a Business Development Director for EV Fleet, focusing on providing Zenobē’s innovative electric bus, battery and charging infrastructure finance and managed service turnkey offering to facilitate fleet operators make the ZE transition. He has over 15 years of experience in front office roles in corporate and investment banking particularly in structured asset finance. He has previously worked at Santander, Lloyds Bank and Barclays

for the UK, Ireland, and European programmes. Her current role includes all aspects of product and contracting, itinerary building, marketing, and customer services.

Will is a longstanding member of the Disabled Person’s Transport Advisory Committee where he chair’s their Local Travel Working Group covering Buses, Coaches, Taxis and DRT. He retired from full-time work in 2018 after a career working in community regeneration and equalities.

JOHN BIRTWISTLE

Chair, Head of Policy, First Bus John leads initiatives on a variety of subjects including domestic and international policy and legislation, local authority partnerships, business opportunities, concessionary travel, vehicle technology, legal issues, ticketing schemes, autonomous vehicles, open data and passenger information. He has also advised on the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit in the UK and USA. John currently chairs the Traveline board and the Operator Digital Initiative, and sits on the Executive of the Rural Services Partnership.

He is the current President of the European Passenger Transport Operators association.

Head of Local Passenger Transport Accessibility Delivery, Department for Transport Yann’s remit includes delivering the review of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR). He previously worked in the department’s motor insurance team.

JULIE HARTLEY

Sales Director, Irizar UK Julie brings over 30 years transport industry knowledge to the role of Sales Director at Irizar UK. Moving from trucks to buses and coaches in 1998 to join a wellknown rental company, Her varied roles have covered both sales and marketing at major manufacturers as well as four years spent at the organisers of both Euro Bus Expo and Coach & Bus UK exhibitions.

Julie joined Irizar UK in 2014.

Commercial Director, Transdev

ROBERT BEST

Director of Engineering, Wrightbus Robert has a PhD in Vehicle energy efficiency and extensive industry experience. Robert has past experience working on energy efficiency and his achievements include producing a tool for predicting fuel economy and efficiency for all powertrain options.

IAN TETLEY

Managing Director, Tetley’s Motor Services Limited A chartered electrical engineer with 20 years’ experience in Australia, Japan and UK before joining the bus and coach industry in 2001. The third generation to operate the family business established by his grandparents in 1949, he has grown the business from six to 50-plus vehicles.

He is Vice-chair of CPT Yorkshire region and sits on the national coach commission.

SIMON LIGHTWOOD MP

Shadow Transport Minister Simon Lightwood MP is a Shadow Transport Minister and Member of Parliament for Wakefield in West Yorkshire. First elected in a by-election in June 2022, regaining the seat for the Labour Party. In October 2022, he was appointed to Labour’s frontbench as a Shadow Transport Minister with responsibility for buses.

Over the past few months he has met with many CPT members to discuss issues ranging from driver recruitment to bus funding.

Prior to being elected, Simon was a proud NHS worker and a councillor and cabinet member.

LOUISE WEBSTER

Product Manager, Acklams Coaches Louise is an experienced Product Manager with an 18-year career working in the leisure, travel, and tourism industry. She has been part of the Acklams Holidays team for just over two years responsible

Operations Director, CPT UK

YANN HOLZAPFEL

PAUL TURNER

Paul joined Transdev as Head of Commercial Development in June 2018, progressing to his current role in March 2020.

He works in partnership with the six local transport authorities across the North of England.

KEITH MCNALLY

WILL BEE

Chair at DPTAC Local Travel Working Group

Keith is responsible for engaging with a range of government and industry stakeholders, and for representing the industry on a wide variety of strategic operational matters, including driver shortages.

He leads the CPT Operations Team, providing operational & technical support to CPT members. Prior to joining CPT, Keith worked for two multinational travel and transport organisations.

DAL KALIRAI

Sales & Partnerships Director, National Express Working in the transport sector for over 30 years Dal is a keen advocate for the West Midlands region for sustainability, growth and equality & diversity. Working her way up the ranks, Dal has played a key role in transforming the business to be more customerfocused, leading on many pioneering transport and ticketing technology projects. Dal spends her time creating innovative and engaging ways for businesses to encourage modal shift from cars to public transport. One of her proudest achievements is enabling free bus travel for college students across the West Midlands.

MATT BARNES

Director, Barnes Coaches

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Speaker profiles Matt has been a Director at Barnes Coaches for 20 years. They are based in Swindon and operate 41 vehicles. Matt mainly works in the Holiday side of the company but set up an apprenticeship scheme in September 2018. They have so far brought over 20 drivers into the industry and drivers they have trained themselves account for over 25% of their current drivers.

Port before starting work at the family coach and haulage business in 1985. During his involvement with the business grew from the 10 coaches in 1985 to over 160 vehicles with an annual turnover exceeding £27m in 2020, when the business was acquired by the National Express Group. Ian’s day-to-day involvement with the business has ended and he now works on behalf of National Express with CPT.

Derby depot, before progressing through the ranks to his current role as Managing Director, which he started in March 2023.

MATT CLAYSON

Readygroup Matt owns one of the biggest SME coach operators in the UK, Readybus Group, providing transport for schools, days out, holidays, sport clubs and adhoc support to business for staff transportation. He began his career in the bus and coach industry after graduating, working in management roles for First Group, before joining Arriva, first as a bus driver, then moving into planning routes and route management.

ALISON EDWARDS

Chair, Director of Policy, CPT UK

JESSICA MATTHEW

Co-Director in Local Transport, Department for Transport Jessica’s remit covers the Levelling Up Fund, buses, active travel, accessibility of the transport network for people with disabilities, major local infrastructure and highways maintenance.

MARTIN DEAN

Managing Director, UK Regional Bus, Go Ahead Martin oversees the performance of Go-Ahead’s UK bus companies outside London, stretching from Devon and Cornwall to the north-east of England.

With more than three decades’ experience in transport, he is also chairman of the bus trade body, the Confederation of Passenger Transport. He was previously head of Business Development for Go-Ahead, where he was successful in identifying new business opportunities, both domestically and internationally.

IAN LUCKETT

Chair, Zero Emission Coach Taskforce (ZECT) After leaving college, Ian spent a short time working as a freight forwarder at Portsmouth Ferry

Alison joined CPT in May 2019 after over a decade in the Civil Service as well as time spent working on policy in the charity sector, including for the Consumers Association Which?

JACK QUICK

Policy Manager, UKHospitality Jack focuses on helping businesses stay abreast of key legislative issues and representing the sector to government, to ensure the voice of the industry is heard throughout the policy-making process.

ANDREW BRADLEY

Senior Delivery Lead – Net Zero Travel & Transport Team, NHS England Andrew has worked in transport for 20 years. Initially working in the London bus industry, he made the leap into the world of local government, working for Surrey, then for City of York and latterly for WYCA. Andrew joined the newly formed Net Zero Travel & Transport team in April 2022, working to shape the delivery of NHS zero-emission travel and transport. Leading on modal shift, Andrew is working collaboratively to identify and deliver high-impact measures to reduce the NHS’s Carbon emissions at pace.

meaningful data for efficient and safer fleets. ‘Big Data’ provides Government bodies and Trade Associations critical information for future policy decisions on transport and planning.

RICHARD BLACKBURNHUGHES

Chief Commercial Officer, Ticketer Richard joined the Ticketer Group in 2021 to take responsibility for the Group’s strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

He has become a familiar face in the industry as part of his quest to shape Ticketer’s partnership programme, to offer more value and opportunities for operators and local authorities. Richard is a self-confessed public transport enthusiast and has demonstrated a real passion for the industry. In fact, Richard’s role expanded to Head of Commercial in 2022 so that he could spend time travelling around the UK to meet with more Ticketer customers.

PHIL FLETCHER,

TIM DEAKIN

Editor, Route One Tim Deakin has been part of the coach and bus trade media since 2013 and Editor of routeone since 2018. His career in the sector began as a bus driver with First Potteries before a spell spent in the haulage segment.

TOM MORGAN

Managing Director, Trentbarton Tom joined the industry in 2009 as a graduate trainee with Norfolk Green following which he joined trentbarton on a management training programme. He landed his first management role as a service delivery manager at their

JEMMA JAMES

Managing Director, Trutac With over 15 years industry experience, Jemma’s key focus is around harnessing tech to deliver

Product and Sales Development Manager, Volvo Bus UK & Ireland Phil has over 40 years’ experience with Volvo working 20 years in the Volvo Truck & Bus dealer network, and 21 years with Volvo Bus UK market headquarters based in Warwick. Phil has spent most of his Volvo career in a technical role but also worked for 10 years at the forefront of bus sales as Fleet Sales and Key Account Manager covering the UK’s southern regions including the whole of London.

Phil’s current role in Volvo is primarily to develop bus & coach products and strategy according to market requirements, and to enhance and support all sales activities whilst focusing on the legal and future direction of the industry and is looking forward to sharing some insight into Volvo’s future vision. ■

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Passenger Transport Publishing Ltd, PO Box 5496, Westbury, BA13 9BX, United Kingdom T : +44 (0)20 3950 8000 | E : editorial@passengertransport.co.uk W : www.passengertransport.co.uk | Twitter : @passtrans

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