The Confederation of Passenger Transport’s President considers some of the issues that have dominated his term
My two years of Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) presidency has passed very quickly. As most of my predecessors probably felt, I would have liked to have been able to commit more time to the role.
That said, it’s been a busy two years. CPT is a broad church, representing operators with only a few vehicles all the way up to those with tens of thousands. That demands a very broad range of skills and the CPT staff UK-wide excel at this.
My term has seen the introduction of a Vice President – Paul Lynch of Stagecoach London – and this means he will be up to speed with the workings of CPT when he takes over as President.
This will take place on 18 January at the CPT UK Conference and Annual Dinner in London. Places are filling up quickly, so book now to avoid missing out.
The £2 fare cap in England, which CPT has worked hard to deliver effectively, has been a welcome effort from government to invest in bus and encourage passengers on board, and it’s played its part in the wider trend of rising footfall among fare-paying passengers in the last couple of years.
It has potential to be a gamechanger, but questions exist over its sustainability, effectiveness as a cost-of-living measure, and whether it promotes a longer-term shift from car to bus.
I, for one, look forward to seeing the findings of the CPT-commissioned research on this subject early next year, and to see how we can best tie this in with other government investment to be a springboard to success.
Franchising is now part of discussion everywhere I go. There are mixed views about this and the main worries range from business confiscation caused by a drop-dead franchise competition to implementation of an expensive exercise that doesn’t appear to benefit the bus user.
There is no doubt that “franchising” can take many forms but, for me, the path to its implementation needs to be discussed more so that there is a fair and just transition.
It has the potential to revolutionise bus travel by making it faster, cheaper and more plentiful. What is generally missing from the debate is where that money will come from. The franchising debate must be about: 1) a fair transition and 2) what it will do for bus users and local economies.
The coach sector has bounced back strongly from the pandemic, showing its resilience and importance to the UK economy.
Local authorities often miss the obvious positive impact they have on their local economies, and could do much more to embrace coaches.
CPT never stops working on that, but central government could make this more of a priority — I can but hope. Inter-city coach travel is constantly growing, and this is further proof of a customer-focused industry consistently delivering value for money.
I must conclude by saying what an honour it has been to represent the industry as CPT President. In doing so, I have met many hundreds of operators who have reinforced my opinion of what a brilliant industry this is to make a career.
I wish all of routeone’s readers a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2024.
