A desire to explain

The plain man's guide to the bus industry

Chris Cheek writes about his best-selling book on the bus industry and his desire to explain how it works. It's especially useful for people who are new to the business and want to gain a better understanding of the industry.

For a whole variety of reasons, the bus industry continues to be of vital importance to the UK. It remains central to the economy, to plans to combat climate change and pollution, and to policies regarding social inclusion and accessibility. Further reform to the industry’s regulatory regime is currently before Parliament. Yet, all too often, public and political comment on the industry continues to betray a lack of understanding of the realities of trying to deliver punctual and reliable services every day – which can lead to highly prejudiced views and statements.

This is why in 2019 I decided to write Understanding Buses, to offer a clear, non-technical, jargon-free explanation of how the bus industry works, and to update it in a second edition in 2022.

I’ve spent over 50 years working in and around the industry and I’ve studied it at some depth in the years since 1987 when I’ve been an analyst and consultant. I thought therefore that I might be able to bring to the book the knowledge and understanding that I've gained along the way.

I have long argued that the industry is not as good as it should be at putting its own case across. It is one of the reasons that I got involved in monitoring and tracking the industry in the first place and why I, along with other colleagues, launched the UK Bus Awards back in 1996.

Through work on the Passenger Transport Monitor project, I have been analysing performance and the market for over 30 years, working with colleagues and clients all over the country in attempting to understand the trends and what drives them.

Looking back over that time, it is clear that some things have remained unchanged – the need for quality and reliability, for instance; the need to promote products and services stylishly and well; the need to listen to, understand and deliver for customers.

In other ways, though, there have been huge changes – particularly since 2010. Cuts of more than 27% in public spending against the background of massively increased congestion, difficult economic circumstances made worse by Covid and war in Ukraine – all against the background of huge social and economic change driven by the smartphone and internet revolution – not to mention the ageing population and the drive for improved air quality.

In recent times, I have tried to communicate to audiences of non-specialists how these things are all inter-related and happen against the background of the financial realities of trying to run a successful bus operation. These challenges are not about regulation or ownership, but about how to deliver successful and sustainable bus services to the millions and millions of people who rely on them every day. 

This book is designed to take that message a stage further, but to do so in a clear, non-technical way. No long tables of figures, no jargon, but easy-to-read charts and worked examples to explain how the industry works. In the chapters, I examine:

• The costs of operation – what the components are and what drives them, particularly understanding the crucial importance of speed and predictability
• The revenue earned – how much is needed to enable operators to meet their three key objectives
  • to cover their costs
  • to meet their financial obligations
  • to invest in the future
• The need for profit – why operators need to make a surplus and what they do with it
• The principal drivers of demand for bus services
• The bus product – its various attributes and why they are important
• The competitive environment in which the industry operates
• The customer interface – researching, listening and communicating with bus users
• Trends in fares and ticketing
• Public spending on buses.

The vagaries of shifting political priorities, the complexities of public policy-making and the under-current of evolving customer attitudes and desires are all grist to the mill to bus industry managers: as I have often remarked before, especially looking back over my 46 years in and around the business, change is what the bus industry does.

In the end, though, there are some realities that don’t change – and the biggest of all is that somewhere, somehow, the industry has to earn enough revenue to cover its costs – both of operation and of its capital. If not, the buses will not be able to run, whoever owns them.

I’m told by readers that Understanding Buses contributes to everybody’s understanding of the realities of running the sort of quality bus services we all want and need. I hope it can help you too!

Where to get Understanding Buses

The book is available as a paperback or an e-book.

Get your paperback directly from the Passenger Transport Monitor website – just follow this link to our online shop

The e-book and the paperbacl are available online at Amazon and other booksellers: follow this link: getbook.at/UnderstandingBuses