Doubling the use of bus and coach transport

What can and must be done

Governments all over the world are looking for ways to increase safety on their roads, reduce damage done to the environment and meet their citizens’ needs with the least amount of time and money. As key sustainable mobility tools, buses and coaches are instrumental in effectively achieving these objectives.

  Read Doubling the use of collective passenger transport by bus and coach - Practical Solutions.pdf (1.2 MB)

Smart Move

Buses and coaches are the safest, most environmentally-friendly, affordable, user-friendly and efficient means of collective passenger transport. As such, they offer an optimal solution to a range of current mobility challenges facing modern societies, including climate change, road safety, connectivity, social inclusion and congestion, to name but a few.

However, these virtues are seldom acknowledged by decision makers and opinion leaders. On the contrary, buses and coaches are often wrongly associated with problems commonly attributed to road transport, such as pollution, congestion and noise.

This has led to a situation where buses and coaches are not only underperforming in terms of use, and their contribution to society but are also the victim of political negligence and often improper, non-adapted and even restrictive legislation.

To allow bus and coach transport to live up to their full potential in providing green, safe, efficient and affordable mobility services to all, it is crucial to promote and further facilitate their operations by implementing simple, affordable and judicious measures. This would be the ultimate Smart Move!

The aim of Smart Move is therefore to raise political and media awareness, in order to eventually double the use of bus and coach transport at EU level and beyond. In Europe alone, such an increase would have the following impact:

• A reduction in CO2 by at least 50 million tonnes per year;
• A reduction in fatalities on EU roads and streets, by more than 3000 per year;  
• A spectacular fall of congestion in cities at zero cost for taxpayers, as a result of the expected 10-15% reduction in car traffic;  
• The creation of 4 million new jobs.

Smarter mobility and travel choices can be achieved by:

• Properly informing oneself and others of the benefits of passenger transport by bus and coach;

   

  • Read through the various sections of the Smart Move website. You should also visiting the websites of the IRU and Busworld or the many Smart Move campaign Partners. Discover the best practices and implement them or make them known to those who can!

   

• Using and promoting the use of buses and coaches;

   

  • Bus and coach-friendly legislation is needed to realise the full potential of buses and coaches. Authorities should establish and promote park-and-ride services and prominently display information on available services. Together with bus and coach operators, authorities might also develop marketing tools and incentive schemes to encourage greater use of buses and coaches.

   

• Giving priority to buses and coaches;

   

  • Authorities should create special bus and coach lanes or give them priority at traffic lights in order to speed up services, as is already successfully the case in several cities. They should also ensure sufficient coach parking areas near city centres and tourist attractions with appropriate facilities and signage.

   

• Fully integrating bus and coach services into collective public transport networks and ensuring fair fiscal treatment;

   

  • Authorities should help promote and improve ticketing systems and interchange facilities to allow quick and convenient transfers between different modes of public transport. They should stimulate cooperation between the different transport modes. Authorities must also ensure equal fiscal treatment (excise duties, VAT, etc.) between all transport modes.

   

• Providing funds for infrastructure improvements and better services;

   

  • Authorities must invest in improved road infrastructure, including multimodal bus and coach terminals, to allow buses and coaches to optimise their services in conjunction with those of other transport modes for the benefit of the individual passenger and society as a whole. Authorities should support the contracting out of public transport to private bus and coach operators, as these often provide the most cost-efficient solutions.

   

• Boosting public-private partnerships;

   

  • Bus operators are already reaping the benefits of their commitment to improve their fleets and services. Local authorities are also enjoying a return on their innovative approaches to transport strategy and planning. The net result is renewed consumer confidence exemplified by the modal shift to buses that is occurring in many countries, cities, towns and rural areas across the globe.

   

  • To realise the full potential of coach tourism, local authorities, coach operators, businesses and tourist attractions must continue to work in partnership and provide conditions in which coach travel can prosper. Adequate parking facilities, pick-up and drop-off points together with suitable access to amenities are essential if authorities want to make their localities even more welcoming to coach parties.