The UK Government has launched Bus Back Better, the long-awaited National Bus Strategy for England, and it promises a bright future for the industry. It sets out an ambitious vision that will revolutionise the way in which local bus services are provided.

Operators and local transport authorities will work closely together to create a new environment that will spur on genuine improvements for passengers. Meanwhile, for areas that choose to press ahead with franchising their local bus services will now have the means and guidance to allow that to happen.

DATA IS AT THE HEART

There’s little doubt that high quality planning will play a key role in meeting the ambition contained within Bus Back Better. The bus strategy calls for high quality integrated public transport. It will see what are today competing operators harmonising their networks and the creation of multi-operator, multi-modal ticketing. This will be incredibly important in helping attracting new passengers to the bus.

Traditionally instigating and managing such a scheme was incredibly complicated but at EPM we have a strong background in this area – we have audited a number of existing schemes for some years, working to ensure operators receive fair reimbursement. As the importance of multi-operator schemes grows and becomes a growing percentage of the average operator’s income, it’s going to become incredibly important that this process is managed fairly and transparently, backed by the very latest usage data.

“It’s important there’s trust,” says Nick Brookes, EPM’s Software Director. “As the value of these schemes from an income point of view increases, the operators need to have the confidence that they are getting a fair share of that pot. Our solutions can take ticket machine data from the operator, off bus sales data and scrutinise the usage and ensure the resulting apportionment of revenue is transparent and fair.”…

Read the full article from Passenger Transport: Beginning the Bus Revolution: Building on the National Bus Strategy for England.