The new Act enables Passenger Focus, the rail passengers’ watchdog, to broaden its remit to encompass bus passengers, giving bus passengers statutory representation throughout England for the first time.

‘We are already working closely with Passenger Focus’ says BUS USERS UK Chairman Gavin Booth, ‘and we are looking forward to strengthening what is already a good relationship between us.’ Although the role of Passenger Focus will be clarified in secondary legislation next year, it is widely recognised that BUS USERS UK’s unique role will be different from that of Passenger Focus. ‘Having a statutory body will focus more attention on bus passengers’ concerns, which is something which has been urgently needed for years’, says Gavin Booth, ‘and our role will become even more vital in this new era. And we have already identified plenty of synergies with Passenger Focus’

BUS USERS UK is hopeful that the Government has ‘got its sums right’ with the rest of the provisions of the new Act. ‘We naturally welcome any measures that improve the lot of bus passengers’, says Gavin Booth.

‘We especially welcome the fact that the new legislation recognises the value of bus operators working in partnership with local authorities to achieve a common goal, that of improving bus travel and benefiting users’, he continued.

BUS USERS UK has yet to be convinced that Quality Contracts will necessarily deliver the right results. ‘There has been a lot of talk as to whether some sort of franchising will be better than the current system’, says Gavin Booth. ‘We are concerned that bus services can all too easily become a political football, and we hope that any such arrangements will contain safeguards to prevent bus services being used for political expediency rather than really benefiting users. But we will be happy to be proved wrong and will remain open-minded until we see how any Quality Contract works out in practice. We don’t wish to prejudge the issue.’