Under-Secretary of State for Transport Simon Lightwood addressed the Women in Bus and Coach (WiBC) summit in Manchester on 8 October to mark the contribution of women in the industry and discuss the barriers they still face.
As part of his visit, the Transport Minister discussed WiBC targets to stand in solidarity across the profession, uplift female role models in engineering, driving and management, and challenge industry policies that do not meet women’s needs.
In addition to his keynote address, where Mr Lightwood noted the low percentage of women still working in the sector, he engaged with a number of female engineers including Lucy Hough from First Bus, Liz Eades from Stagecoach South East, and Hannah Currie from Wrightbus to discuss their experiences in the sector.
“I was delighted to celebrate the incredible achievements of women in the coach and bus industry up and down the country,” he says. “Our plans to deliver better buses will end the postcode lottery that has determined the quality and frequency of bus services for too long.  As we deliver this biggest overhaul to buses in a generation, the work of each and every driver, engineer, manager and the countless others who keep our country moving will be vital.”
The summit comes amid a watershed moment for the new government’s pursual of the “biggest overhaul to buses in a generation”, with hints that plans for bus reform under Labour will help “shape the bus offer around everyone”. Franchising was a point of focus as the summit coincided with the closure of the government’s month-long consultation on reducing barriers to bus franchising, the outcome of which will be announced soon.
Speaking directly to routeone, he says: “I think we’ve made great strides forward following the pandemic. There’s still a lot of work to do; today’s event celebrates the contribution of women but also highlights the shocking fact they make up only 10% of the workforce. We need to improve that and ensure we have representation from frontline bus drivers to senior management. It’s important that we shape our public transport offer around everyone; too often, in the past, it’s been designed by men, for men.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham joined the discussion on franchising, highlighting progress on Manchester’s Bee Network while praising the contribution of women to that transition.
“Our success is down to the hard work and dedication of Bee Network staff, including the many brilliant women working tirelessly to deliver a great service to the people of Greater Manchester, whether that’s driving buses, working at our bus stations, interchanges or travel shops, or leading our franchising programme,” he says. “It was fantastic to see that recognised today, and as we grow the Bee Network and take forward our plans to transform technical education in Greater Manchester through the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, we want to encourage even more women into the industry.”
Comments Louise Cheeseman, Chair and Founder of Women in Bus and Coach: “I am proud to see the incredible achievements of women across our industry celebrated at the 2024 Women in Bus and Coach summit. This event not only highlights the inspiring individuals shaping the future of the bus,  coach and community transport sector, but also reinforces our collective commitment to breaking barriers and creating opportunities for women.
“We warmly welcome the government’s plans to deliver the biggest overhaul of bus services in a generation, and we look forward to working together to ensure these changes empower a more inclusive, accessible, and innovative future for all.”
