Bus Users UK has published a ten-point plan to reverse the decline in rural services, according to the website Transport-Network.co.uk

The group, which represents bus users, said that ‘changing lifestyles, flexible working, funding cuts and the regulatory environment are forcing rural bus services into decline’.

The report, Rural buses: reversing the decline, calls for reform of the Traffic Commissioners to represent the interests of bus users, modernisation of the role of the DVSA, for local authorities to take a more consumer-led approach to transport, and for local partnership working to be a requirement between local authorities and bus operators. It also calls for a trial of new models of rural bus provision built on community interest or co-operative principles.

Bus Users UK chief executive Claire Walters said: ‘Creative and innovative solutions to the rural transport crisis are urgently needed, but will only be possible with reform of the bodies and the regulatory environment that govern it.’

Full articles:

→ Transport-Network.co.uk - Bus users outline plan to reverse rural decline

→ Bus Users - Rural buses: reversing the decline