Lydia Horbury, Bus Users UK Chief Executive, has welcomed the Department for Transport’s Better Connected strategy for integrated transport, published today
Better Connected is a welcome step toward recognising what passengers have been telling us for years: that buses are not just a commercial product, they are essential public infrastructure.
At its heart, the focus on improving reliability and frequency is exactly right. We know that when services turn up on time and run often enough, people use them. That in turn supports reinvestment and helps keep fares down. It sounds simple, but too many passengers are still dealing with uncertainty, long waits and services that don’t feel safe or dependable.
There are also some genuinely important shifts here. Giving local leaders more power, including through the Bus Services Act and the ability to bring services back under public control where needed, creates a real opportunity to design networks around people and places rather than purely commercial returns. That matters, because no two communities are the same.
The emphasis on integration is equally encouraging. Passengers do not think in modes, they think in journeys. Better connections between bus, rail and active travel, alongside simpler fares and tap and go ticketing, have the potential to remove much of the friction that currently puts people off choosing the bus.
But strategy alone is not enough. The real test will be whether this translates into consistent, reliable services at the local level. That depends on sustained investment, strong partnerships and the capacity of local authorities to deliver.
Passengers will judge this not on policy documents, but on whether their bus turns up, gets them where they need to be and does so safely and affordably.