Bus campaigns, usually led by non-profit non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), are increasingly shaping how public transport evolves, from fare policies to fleet electrification.

Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit before the March to Save Our Service: 42-BRT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The need for Bus Campaigns

Buses remain an essential part of public transport in our cities and rural areas. Underground train networks and tramcars also play a part, but it is the bus that carries the majority of daily passengers in most places.

Yet buses in some countries are underfunded, overcrowded, or slow, leading to growing frustration among passengers. In response, communities, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have organized bus campaigns to push for change.

Here in the UK, from 26 October 1986, prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s government abolished road service licensing, meaning that any operator holding a PSV (Public Service Vehicle) Operator’s Licence was free to register any local bus service outside London.

Private bus companies were free to run their own routes. At first passengers were enjoying the cheaper fares, sometimes even free travel, while the established and newly formed bus companies fought over the lucrative routes. As time went by, some operators withdrew services from non-profitable routes, or ran fewer buses in the evenings.

Some Bus Campaigns from across the world