Associate feature: Making bus priority, a priority

"Bus isn't a priority". We often get told this from government officials, bus just isn’t a priority. It’s somewhat understandable why buses may be lower down on the government's priority list, unlike ferries or rail, which have caused more headaches for ministers recently.

Despite this, around 75% of public transport journeys made in Scotland are made by bus. We move more people around the country than any other mode of public transport. Be it to school, university, hospital appointments or for business and leisure, we provide the lifeblood of our city’s arterial networks. Therefore, ensuing the efficient flow of bus networks is healthy both for us as operators and for the people of Scotland.

However, our urban networks are at a crossroads, faced with the urgent need to transform our public transport system to tackle the climate emergency. We therefore need to see more ambition from local authorities, central government and all elected politicians across the spectrum.

More cars on our roads leads to more congestion, which stands as the principal barrier to the evolution of efficient bus networks in our cities. The pervasive gridlock in urban areas, caused both by traffic and roadworks, undermines the financial viability and reliability of bus services, leading to extended journey times, increased fuel consumption, and the necessity for additional buses to adhere to schedules. These additional pressures inflate operational costs and severely impact the punctuality of bus services, eroding public confidence in their reliability and deterring potential passengers. Taking a route that we run in Glasgow as an example, in 2008, the service was delivered by 12 vehicles. Today, the same service requires 18 vehicles – an increase of a whopping 50% in terms of resource. Regrettably, operators can only accommodate costs on this scale by either raising fares or cutting services, which is the last thing that any bus operator wants to do.

Addressing congestion is thus imperative, not only for improving bus service efficiency but also for achieving broader environmental goals. Implementing bus priority measures such as dedicated lanes, traffic signal prioritisation, and congestion charging zones is essential. These interventions ensure that buses can navigate urban landscapes swiftly and reliably, making them a more appealing alternative to private cars.

In Aberdeen, we have seen bus priority measures come under scrutiny from a variety of quarters, both in the political arena and from business communities. We have worked constructively with those across all quarters of Aberdeen to take on board this feedback, as well as address concerns. Fundamentally, from the conversations we have had, it becomes clear that what we all want is a city that has good public transport links, which gets people around the city for business, health, education or leisure, and ultimately improves people’s lives. The bus priority measures achieve these joint goals.

We can reveal in the past year that journey speeds have improved across Aberdeen, with journey time savings of 25% now being enjoyed by Aberdonians thanks to the bus priority measures.  We have additionally seen an increase in ridership on average across the year of 8%. 

By using the bus priority measures, we also saw an increase in efficiency on our routes, allowing us to provision the same routes we had previously served, using fewer buses and drivers. These efficiency savings were passed on to our customers in January 2024, providing free bus travel over the weekends in an attempt to highlight the benefits of the measures.

Unfortunately, the recent pausing of the Bus Partnership Fund has hindered these ongoing efforts just as we are starting to get in the data to show its benefits. Reinstating and expanding these funding streams will effectively reduce car dependency and promote greener alternatives – a goal public transport providers and the Scottish Government share.

We do understand the current financial climate the Scottish Government find themselves in. However, as a business, we also work within the current economic factors we are given and try and ensure we deliver the best service for our customers. We have done this by investing more into our green future with the purchase of 36 new electric buses, without using any Scottish Government funding. While the cost of these vehicles is still much more expensive than conventional diesel, First Bus is determined to meet our climate coals to delivering a fully zero emission bus fleet by 2035 across all our UK networks. Nowhere in the UK is that journey happening faster than Scotland, with some of our key depots approaching the 50% renewable vehicle mix with this latest purchase.

Scotland has a unique opportunity to redefine urban mobility through decisive action both on our shared ambitious climate goals and on championing bus priority measures. There has been much talk of bus reform, which we’re happy to engage in. However, regardless of the method that delivers bus networks across the country, bus reform alone in whatever shape will not deliver improved journeys times. It’s therefore imperative that by addressing road use, reducing congestion, and ensuring reliable bus services, we can pave the way for a sustainable, efficient, and inclusive transport future. 

Given the success of bus priority measures in Aberdeen, as well as their need, we will continue to advocate for their implementation, not only to decongest our cities, but for the ultimate benefit to the environment and the subsequent enhancement of the quality of urban life for all Scots.

This article is sponsored by First Bus

firstbus.co.uk