The strengths and weaknesses of the current system of oversight and regulation of bus safety are to be analysed by the Urban Transport Group in a new report.

The organisation, the UK’s network of city region transport authorities, has commissioned Loughborough University to produce an overview of the current arrangements for identifying, analysing and tackling bus safety challenges in England outside London.

The report will also make comparisons with the approach taken for other modes, such as for national rail services in Great Britain, and for bus in London and Northern Ireland. It will also assess the main areas of safety risk on bus.

Loughborough University has extensive experience in undertaking work on road user and bus safety.

Laura Shoaf, Managing Director of Transport for West Midlands and Chair of the Urban Transport Group, said:

“The upcoming national bus strategy provides an opportunity to take a more systematic approach to analysis and action to further improve the safe operation of bus services. We believe that there are also lessons that could be learned and applied from the way that safety is overseen for other modes and for bus in different parts of the country. We therefore hope that this report can play a useful contribution in ensuring that the regulatory regime for bus safety outside London keeps pace with wider best practice on transport safety regulation.”