The Role of UK Local Authorities in Promoting the Bus

Abstract

To deal with rising city center congestion and its associated pollution, the UK government has proposed a number of policy measures. In particular, the 1998 White Paper indicated that “the bus industry will make an important and cost-effective contribution to tackling congestion and pollution at the local level.” Since the privatization of the bus industry during the 1980s, local government—the primary agents of delivering transport policy objectives in the UK—have had relatively little control over the provision of bus services in their localities, particularly outside London. One area in which local authorities can exert influence, however, is through the promotion of buses among the general public. So far though, little evidence exists to reveal the extent to which local authorities in the UK have actively promoted city bus services as part of an integrated solution to reducing traffic-related congestion in urban areas. This paper seeks to redress this issue. The empirical evidence gained in this study suggests that only a few UK local authorities have actively promoted city bus services and that there are problems in establishing cohesive promotional objectives, budget setting, measurement activity, understanding of the promotional mix, and the benefits derived from promoting city bus services.

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