What is Oxon4Buses?
Oxon4Buses (O4B) is an informal association of users of bus services in Oxfordshire. Our members are representatives of a wide variety of groups in the County and City, including parish representatives, who all have an interest in improving and promoting bus services. We aim to represent a wide range of views from people who do or might use buses.
What do we want to achieve?
Our main aim is to increase bus usage throughout the County. A strong part of our ethos is that buses are an essential component of a fair society – substantial numbers of households do not own a car and many people, from all income groups, do not have a driving licence, due to age (young and old), illness or disability. Therefore buses – complementing cycling, and walking – are an important travel mode to enable everyone to access shops, amenities, friends, social and cultural events and generally participate in a fulfilling life. We would like to see a virtuous circle where more people use buses, and there are more frequent, and more reliable, buses, and additional routes.
Working with the County Council and the bus companies
The County Council and all the major bus companies operating in Oxfordshire entered into an Enhanced Partnership (EP) in February 2023. The Partnership is delivering a Bus Services Improvement Plan, partly funded by a government grant of £12 million. Four working groups are in place to work out the details, for approval by the Enhanced Partnership Board. O4B has representatives on two of these working groups:
Working Group 3: Upgrading bus infrastructure.
Nicholas Lawrence of Radley Environment Group, and a Radley Parish Transport Representative, is attending for O4B. The remit of this group covers:
- Bus stops
- Mobility hubs
- Real Time Information
- Bus Interchanges
- New developments – bus access
- Decarbonisation infrastructure
Working Group 4: Making buses more attractive
Margaret Simon from Low Carbon Oxford North is our representative. This group’s remit includes:
- Branding and marketing
- Quality standards
- Vehicle features
- Smart ticketing
- Behavioural change initiatives
- Publicity and customer information
- Customer charter
Parish Transport Representatives
Every parish in Oxfordshire can, if it wishes, appoint a Parish Transport Representative. Oxfordshire County Council organises regular county-wide meetings to brief these Representatives about current transport issues, and offers a surgery where concerns about individual services can be raised with County Council staff. Only about one parish in ten sends a representative at present.
For more information contact communitytransport@oxfordshire.gov.uk .
