Decline in bus use in rural areas isn’t inevitable

Stephen Joseph offers his reflections on the Quality Rural Bus conference, held in Hertfordshire in July

The story on rural bus services is generally presented as one of decline, but that’s not universally true and with new funding from the Bus Service Improvement Programme, the capped bus fare now at £3, and the Rural Mobility Fund pilots there are examples of increasing bus services and use in some rural areas.  Bus reform is also coming up fast.

The Quality Rural Bus conference was run, by popular demand at last year’s Quality Bus conference, to discuss these issues and to bring together those with an interest in rural transport. It was held at the University of Hertfordshire, which has its own bus company Uno (who put on shuttle buses to the venue). The University also has the Smart Mobility Unit, where I am a professor, which has been researching aspects of rural transport, and students from the University’s Transport Masters programme attended the event.

The conference was sponsored by the DfT and the Bus Centre of Excellence who made free spaces available for some of those attending. 

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BCoE is supporting Quality Bus on 23-24 September with funded tickets for the public sector: apply here and meet the BCoE team

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The event and its exhibition were sold out, showing the interest in this topic. Delegates heard a wide range of presentations, including examples of success in increasing bus use in places like Norfolk and Cornwall and experience from Ireland which has been gradually building up rural public transport. Approaches to new residential development were outlined by Nick Small from Go-Ahead, and there was a lot of discussion about tourist areas and examples of services that encourage tourists on to buses and out of cars.

Given the background of bus service reforms currently going through both the UK Parliament and the Senedd in Wales, it was unsurprising that there was much discussion about bus franchising and its applicability in rural areas. Some areas with successful enhanced partnerships are planning to stick to these, but some places like Cambridgeshire and North Yorkshire are moving towards franchising. There are understandable concerns about the risks, but I and others argued that there are benefits – in terms of simple ticketing and network planning – and there may also be specific opportunities for micro-franchising, for example in new housing developments and tourist areas. Rightly, there was emphasis from the Community Transport Association and others on the need for and benefits from bringing communities and local providers into any discussion on future bus provision and policies.

Whatever business model is used, funding was an issue running through the event, and particularly the need for long term funding with appropriate assessments. The importance of social inclusion – of transport services bringing new opportunities to rural areas and those living in them – is not given enough recognition in transport appraisal, according to many of those present. 

New frameworks bringing together different authorities and services, mixing fixed route, demand responsive and bespoke education and social services, were also suggested, and some delegates daringly suggested that car parking charges and other traffic restraint measures will be needed to increase bus use in rural areas.

The event had good feedback from those attending who found the presentations and discussions stimulating. Most importantly, it showed that the decline in bus use is rural areas isn’t inevitable and there are plenty of ideas and a lot of energy around to improve rural buses. 

Stephen Joseph is Professor, Smart Mobility Unit, University of Hertfordshire