Transform’s new report ‘Life in the Bus Lane’, published today (Wednesday 2nd), finds that three-quarters of non-bus users appreciate the value of bus priority measures such as bus lanes, bus gates and bus priority signals.
The finding comes as part of our project which delivered face-to-face public engagement on buses and at events all round Scotland. The project concluded that:
- Even non-bus users appreciate the value of bus priority (76% of those surveyed).
- Awareness of how bus priority could improve journey times and reliability is often low amongst existing bus users.
- Passenger satisfaction with bus services is generally high (over 80%), but matters requiring attention include: wait and journey times, personal safety, and the quality and maintenance of bus shelters.
Life in the Bus Lane project manager Stacey O’Flaherty said:
“The project provided valuable opportunities to hear directly from both passengers and potential passengers about the reality of bus travel in Scotland’s towns and cities. We spoke with both bus passengers and non-bus users at bus stations, universities, shopping centres, and at hospitals. We also audited bus stops along a number of the routes.
“We found that whilst bus users generally expressed high levels of satisfaction, concerns around safety, reliability, and frequency persist. Our public engagement work also significantly increased awareness and support for bus priority measures.”
Transform director Colin Howden said:
“It’s neither fair nor realistic to expect car drivers to switch to buses for journeys into our towns and cities if those buses are stuck in queues of single occupant cars. We need to see clear priority being given to public transport over private car use. This will require a combination of new bus priority signals, new bus lanes on certain routes, bus gates in town centres, and enforcement of existing priority measures.”
Aberdeen’s recent introduction of bus priority measures (a mixture of bus lanes and bus gates across three of the city’s streets), have reduced journey times by up to 25%, benefiting over 600,000 passengers each month. The improvements have resulted in increased service reliability and operational savings for operators First and Stagecoach. This has further benefited passengers with the operators reinvesting the savings to offer periods of free travel.
Colin Howden concluded:
“We want to see local authorities, working in tandem with bus operators, bring forward new plans for bus priority for all of Scotland’s major urban centres.
“For its part, Transport Scotland urgently needs to provide guidance on how its new Bus Infrastructure Fund will work in delivering new bus priority. It also needs to move forward its long-stalled commitment to take forward bus priority measures on the Glasgow motorway network – no progress on which has been made since 2021.”
The report also recommends that:
- The Scottish Government should expand its youth engagement programmes in order to tackle anti-social behaviour.
- Local authorities should provide a ‘Bus Stop Guarantee’ to ensure that bus users can expect a satisfactory waiting environment.
- Local authorities & bus operators need to ensure that passenger information systems provide bus users with clear, real-time updates on service scheduled & disruptions.
Find out more about Life in the Bus Lane and read the report here.
