The coach and bus industry spends a lot of time thinking about how it gets younger people aboard as members of the workforce. That is to its credit, but is it doing enough of the same when considering how they are attracted and retained as customers?
As far back as 2021, the number of under-25s in Great Britain holding a driving licence had fallen to the lowest level on record, the Guardian told us at the time. The pandemic was no doubt related to that, and it is likely that numbers have grown since then. But there remains an opportunity for coach and bus within this demographic.
Good work has already been done to gain and keep young people as customers. In Scotland, the under-22 free bus travel scheme is not without its faults – particularly around antisocial behaviour – but one of its basic premises, that it should help to keep passholders as paying customers later, is sound.
In England, smart money is on the current £3 adult bus fare cap being followed from 2026 by something similar that is focused on younger people.
If adopted permanently, this is probably the best-case result for the awkward exit strategy from the adult cap, although it does not address the even more difficult extrication from low fares for adults on longer-distance services.
Nevertheless, key to the young people on bus equation is understanding them and what they want, as articulated in fine style by Shane Grindey, then of Blackpool Transport, during 2022.
There is still an argument that the bus industry is not doing that anywhere near as well as it should. Generation Z is harder to please than others, and some parts of the sector continue to have difficulties with consistent service delivery. Those are often outside its control, but there is evident room for closer scrutiny in some cases.
For coach, opportunity with young people is also clear. The scheduled market is strong, although retrenchment by Megabus in England and Wales of late indicates how it is not entirely growth focused.
That aside, the scheduled networks have done a lot to build the wider profile of coach through advertising via social and traditional media channels. Regular rail fare increases as that industry finds it impossible to get a grip of costs also benefit scheduled coaching, particularly among younger people.
Experience-based trips and products have long been another strong area of business for coach, illustrated by ‘coach to concert’ offerings and others built around things such as sports events, consumer shows, and other gatherings.
The cruise market – long a solid source of year-round custom – now also attracts a younger crowd. Bringing those people onto more traditional coach tourism products is a tougher nut to crack, but some operators have seen success via diversification of their offer. It thus can be done.
The workforce issue is a pressing one; of that there can be no doubt. Great effort is going into solving it. But a focus on bringing young people into coach and bus as customers must be equally sharp.
