Local Transport Plan (LTP) work in England will see local authorities required to consider the position of coaches and coach services, statutory guidance on development and delivery of those plans issued alongside the Integrated National Transport Strategy for England on 2 April has outlined.
The Strategy notes how coaches “can be particularly overlooked in transport planning yet provide essential links between many towns, cities, airports and other destinations – and with a reach greater than the rail network.”
It adds that going forward, local authorities in England “will be expected to recognise the role and contribution of coach services and plan appropriate provision for them and their passengers.”
The new LTP guidance to councils goes further, acknowledging coaches’ critical importance to home-to-school and rail replacement services. It also cites work by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) that identified how coach passengers spend £8.3 billion per year in tourist hotspots.
Among the requirements of local authorities for coach in local transport plan work, those bodies will be expected to:
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- Consider current and potential coach demand, including for regular and special events that generate peaks in usage
- Work with local highway authorities to set out a vision, policies and plans to deliver appropriate provision for scheduled and non-scheduled coaches
- Use their LTP to set out how appropriate, accessible parking and pick-up and drop-off points will be provided. That should include considerations around safety, driver welfare, and operation of vehicle-mounted passenger lifts and accessibility aids
- Consider opportunities for coaches to use bus lanes where that is not already present, if it will not impact performance of bus services
- Where relevant, to work with other local authorities on whether provision of funding to ‘pump prime’ new or more frequent scheduled coach services would improve connectivity or employment access, or bring wider economic benefits.
The guidance also instructs councils that when developing their LTPs, they should engage with trade bodies that represent the coach industry such as CPT, RHA, and the UK Coach Operators Association. Seeking recognition via CPT’s Coach Friendly scheme may also be of benefit, they are told.
Work around coaches in the Strategy and the LTP guidance has been welcomed by CPT. Bus is also referenced heavily in the Strategy, including around integrated tap-and-go travel and the mini-Switzerland pilot for part of the Peak District.
In response to the position on coaches, CPT Director of Policy and External Relations Alison Edwards describes it as “a game changer” for the sector.
“From today, every local authority in England will need to think strategically about coach travel. It is an endorsement from the government of coaches as the hidden backbone of the public transport network,” she says.
“In practical terms, this will mean that every town and district needs a plan for adequate facilities – including parking, pick-up and drop-off points suitable for coach passengers and drivers alike.
“Better still, it means that local authorities will be encouraged to look at ways to help operators to expand and improve coach links. CPT stands ready to help with this.”
