Is access to public transport necessary for realising key human rights?

A growing number of cities are linking urban development and public transport to human rights, addressing these connections in local policy documents. But not all prioritise buses and public transport

Some cities are actively declaring themselves as "Human Rights Cities," where human rights principles are central to all local policies and decision-making processes. This includes integrating human rights considerations into urban development and transport planning. 

The Human Rights Cities approach signifies a shift towards holistic and rights-based urban planning, and acknowledge that access to public transport is crucial for realising various human rights. York, UK, is a Human Rights City, but it hasn't chosen public transport as one of its priority policy areas, unlike Barcelona and Tallin.

So back in the UK, there is no real acknowledgement that access to public transport is necessary for realising various human rights such as access to work, health and education. There is, however, mention of socially necessary services in the Buses Bill. Mention, but no real definition.

Buses are the most used form of public transport in England. Local bus journeys accounted for around 1.8 billion journeys (outside London) in 2023-24 but both passengers and operators report a range of challenges Recent analysis from the National Audit Office (NAO) shows that, despite successive governments aiming to improve bus services and attract passengers, services have been reduced and the commercial viability of the sector has weakened in England. Services are also in decline in Scotland and show only limited growth in Wales.

DfT urged to do more...

The June 2025 report from the NAO has made a number of recommendations for the Department for Transport to consider in the coming weeks and months, to which the DfT senior officials responded at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 17 July – more on that later.

The Public Accounts Committee examines the value for money of Government projects, programmes and service delivery. Drawing on the work of the National Audit Office, the Committee holds government officials to account for the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. 

This latest inquiry focused on buses and their performance – and was keen to bring in the international context. DfT Permanent Secretary, Jo Shanmugalingam, stated that "bus funding in England was getting close to that in international peer economies."

PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asked the DfT officers if they were "being a little complacent about the international comparison", suggesting that "there is a lot of learning we can do, if you look at places such as Dijon and elsewhere around Europe, in terms of bus connectivity and place. Are we actually doing well compared to our European counterparts?"

In response, Conrad Bailey, Director General, Public Transport and Local Group said: “I completely agree with you that there is a lot of learning we can do, if you look at places such as Dijon and elsewhere around Europe, in terms of bus connectivity and place."

So, we wait and see what the Buses Bill will bring. Will it be Big and Beautiful, or Little and Limited?

Quality Bus 2025 and companion webinar

This is the background to the Quality Bus 2025 event and webinar, supported by Systra and the Bus Centre of Excellence. 

While the Quality Rural Bus event earlier this month showed that the decline in bus use in rural areas isn’t inevitable, it would be counter-productive to say that the bus sector does not face keen challenges. 

Studies done over the years by Transport for Quality of Life (TfQL) show that, looking internationally, there are at least 16 different ways in which local authorities raise funding for buses and public transport, including payroll taxes, local sales taxes, property taxes, visitor taxes and others

The upside is that, as the Bus Services Bill passes through Parliament, the basis for buses in the UK is changing and, with the right levels of investment and funding support, those changes could be lead to a bus resurgence.

Buses have the potential to be the workhorses of the public transport network. Good bus services are critical to meeting net zero targets, improving air quality and keeping the UK’s communities connected and accessible. 

Both event and webinar will look at new opportunities for reviving – and creating – vital routes and services, and at the developing role of the Bus Centre of Excellence (BCoE), which was highly praised by the DfT during the PAC inquiry. BCoE is creating “a network of professionals that did not exist”, said Stephen Fidler, Director, Buses & Inclusion at DfT.

The DfT has invested about £1m in setting up the centre, which now has more than 1,400 members, said Fidler. Since its formation, BCoE has set out to share best practices among those involved in the delivery of bus services and infrastructure. It is also working to bring together local transport authorities (LTAs), operators and suppliers, to develop and promote best practice and build the necessary skills to deliver better bus services across England.

So, we could be on the cusp of change. With that in mind, the Quality Bus companion webinar on September 17 will be exploring innovative and alternate solutions to both bus service provision and funding - with a few exemplars from our European peers for comparison.

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Join the 'Is access to public transport necessary for realising various human rights' webinar, 10.30 - 12.00, 17 Sep 2025

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The international comparison

Studies done over the years by Transport for Quality of Life (TfQL) show that, looking internationally, there are at least 16 different ways in which local authorities raise funding for public transport, including payroll taxes, local sales taxes, property taxes, visitor taxes and others. 

The French public transport payroll levy (Versement Transport, VT) is one excellent example. VT is controlled by local authorities, and levied on businesses with 11 or more employees. Businesses support it because it pays directly for public transport improvements, and they recognise that good public transport benefits their employees and increases the economic health of their town. It has the advantage of being a relatively stable income stream. More than 80% of France’s 300+ urban transport authorities levy VT, and more than half of their infrastructure investment and operational subsidy is funded by it.

VT has been used to fund major improvements to bus networks.

Switzerland has a highly successful and integrated public transportation network, with buses playing a crucial role, especially in connecting smaller towns and rural areas to the larger network. PostBus (PostAuto) is a particularly successful example, operating a vast network of routes and known for its reliability.

PostBus operates over 800 routes in Switzerland, serving both urban and rural areas, including remote mountainous regions, according to PostAuto. A key factor in the success of Swiss bus services is the concept of "every village, every hour," which aims to provide a basic level of public transport even in remote areas, according to CPRE.

Many countries and regions have laws or regulations that specify minimum service levels for public transport, including bus services, and the webinar will also look at the varying legal frameworks behind these, and how they operate in practice.

Other cities across the world have made their buses free or heavily subsidised – subsidy much higher than the 50% figure given at the PAC inquiry by the DfT this month. DfT said that "Subsidy had peaked during the pandemic at 77% of revenue and was now at 50% of revenue." The £3 fare bus cap has been extended to March 2027 in England. Scotland and Wales also have fare caps.

Free public transport: does it mean better services and increased ridership?

Since 2019, TfQL and others noted that fare-free bus travel was already happening in around 100 towns and cities worldwide, including more than 30 in the USA and 20 in France, as well as in Poland, Sweden, Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Australia and elsewhere. Before this can happen the public transport system has to be deregulated and funding streams put in place.

With their increasing control over regional networks, several local authorities have recently offered free or heavily subsidised fares across some or all services. Yet the benefits are mixed, and we'll delving into what works, when, where and why, in the webinar.

Key verdict on buses from the National Audit Office

Successive governments have aimed to improve bus services for passengers and attract more people to use buses. Despite significant investment from government, these outcomes are not yet being achieved. COVID-19 disrupted DfT’s plans and required a shift in focus towards supporting the short-term survival of the bus sector. This has meant that, while progress has been made, long-standing issues with the performance of the bus sector remain.

The commercial viability of the sector has weakened, and passengers have seen services reduce. In a changed landscape where local transport authorities will have increasing influence over bus services, it is essential that DfT provides the sector with the tools it needs to succeed.

While responsibility for individual bus services sits at a local level, DfT needs to ensure at a national level that its funding and policy interventions are enabling the outcomes it wants.