Out now: Issue 289 of Passenger Transport

Issue 289 of Passenger Transport is published on May 19.
Contents include:

 

 
LEAD STORY

£500m of new support for England’s buses
In response to warnings that up to 15% of the bus network could be at risk, the government has extended recovery funding and the £2 bus fare cap

 
NEWS

TransPennine moves into state ownership
Transport secretary Mark Harper steps in to take control of beleaguered operator TransPennine Express after months of poor performance

CBT campaign week launched
Better Transport Week aims to highlight sustainable transport

Rotheram reveals £300m franchise plan
Significant investment in new buses and depot facilities are at the heart of the Liverpool City Region’s plans to franchise the local bus network

‘CMA competition test should not deter EPs’
CMA says competition concerns should not deter bus partnerships

Stagecoach denies kicking out FlixBus
Group rejects rivals claims about Aberdeen bus station expulsion

National Express Group becomes Mobico
Move aims to solidify group’s presence as international player

Enterprise hits 20-year high amid funding woes
Passenger growth is encouraging but realities of budget standstill mean that Translink cuts are under consideration. Rhodri Clark reports

Rail industry calls for clarity on reform plans
RIA urges Sunak to press ahead with modernisation plans

Cost of preventing bus service cuts is ‘tiny’
Go-Ahead’s Martin Dean tells parliamentarians that £260m a year to keep networks at pre-pandemic levels is ‘barely enough to build a mile of HS2’

Tender costs quadruple in rural Welsh county
Local authorities and operators warn of potential collapse

 
NET ZERO

ScotZeb Phase 2 aims to assist on Net Zero
New phase expands eligibility to community transport and coaches

TransPennine is first to be Carbon Literate
The accreditation, awarded by the Carbon Literacy Trust, is internationally recognised and demonstrates recipients are prioritising climate crisis

 
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

The experiment begins: CAVForth is in service
The ground-breaking AB1 autonomous bus service is now carrying passengers on a 14-mile route from Fife to the Edinburgh Park interchange

ScotRail finds barcode fraud
Operator removes short-hop barcode tickets after discovering abuse of system by fare evaders

 
COMMENT

Jonathan Bray: Fares are firmly on the political agenda
Fares are no longer just about balancing public transport’s books. The sector must recognise this shift and become more proactive

Alex Warner: We’ve lost our way with transport maps
Maps are in decline and where they do exist they are hidden or diluted in value, but they are a great way to communicate our offer

Nick Richardson: Could transport cope with Covid 2.0?
While Covid-19 never really went away, could there be a resurgence of the pandemic and what would be the response?

Nafisa Nathani: Rethinking mental health support
We need to change our models of mental health support to be more accommodating to the needs of a diverse workforce

Great Minster Grumbles: Rail privatisation is slowly unravelling
Our Whitehall insider imagines what’s going on inside the minds of the mandarins at Great Minster House, home of the DfT

 
SPECIAL REPORT: CitySwift

Simulations will be a ‘game changer’
The addition of simulations to CitySwift’s Evolve module allows bus operators to analyse the predicted impact of various runtimes

 
CAREERS

Go North West expands team for franchising
Martyn Walsh joins operator as head of engineering

 
RECRUITMENT

Head of Operations – Stagecoach East Scotland

 
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The post Out now: Issue 289 of Passenger Transport first appeared on Passenger Transport.

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