Secrets of a Successful Bus Operation

Context

Why is it some areas of the UK have a reputation for providing excellent bus services which passengers proudly use in growing numbers while others seem to continually languish in a spiral of decline, with regular service cuts and reduced custom? This webinar will attempt to answer that question by highlighting the key ingredients which make for a successful bus operation whether it be in a conurbation, town, village or hamlet.

Roger French OBE, who is standing down after nine years as a Trustee of the Foundation for Integrated Transport this Spring, had a long career leading the award winning Brighton & Hove Bus Company. He will explain how the team, along with the local authority, were able to consistently grow ridership on the city’s bus network every year, more than doubling the numbers travelling, to become the area with the highest use of buses per head of population outside of London. And all achieved with the minimum of public funding.

Speaker:

Roger French retired from a lifelong career in the bus industry in 2013 having worked with bus companies in London, West Yorkshire, Kent and South Wales before moving to Brighton in 1982, staying at the helm of that city’s buses for 31 years. He was part of the management buy-out team of the Brighton & Hove Bus Company in 1987 and its subsequent sale to the Go-Ahead Group, continuing as Managing Director of the company as well as playing a leading role in the community. He was awarded an OBE for services to public transport in 2005, an Honorary MA by the University of Brighton in 2007, a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for East Sussex in 2007 and was awarded the ‘Freedom of the City of Brighton & Hove’ in 2013. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and a Patron of the Young Bus Managers’ Network.

Chair:

Stephen Joseph, Visiting Professor at University of Hertfordshire and Chair of the FIT Board of Trustees

Stephen Joseph is a transport policy consultant, specialising in urban and local issues and in smart transport. He was Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport (formerly Transport 2000) from 1988 to 2018. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Hertfordshire’s Smart Mobility Unit since December 2018, having received an honorary doctorate from the University in November 2010. At present, Stephen is a trustee and chair of the Foundation for Integrated Transport. He is a director of the Transport for New Homes project, which the Foundation established. He was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1996 for services to transport and the environment.