BBC News | UK | Bus-t up with the media

The media is full of stories about rail hell, Tube delays and traffic jams. But there is hardly ever a word about our most popular form of public transport - buses.

The UK's bus system is running out of money and on the brink of collapse in some parts of the country, according to reports this week.

Up to two million bus services could be axed next year, say local government transport managers. The effects would impact hundreds of thousands of people.

We should be much more concerned about the bus service, because it affects many more people

Professor David Begg
Yet this news was buried away on the inside pages of newspapers and was well down the running orders on national TV and radio news bulletins.

In media terms, says Professor David Begg of the government's Commission for Integrated Transport, buses are "a neglected form of transport" even though they carry four times as many passengers as trains.

The reason for the lack of interest, according to a media expert at the Transport and General Workers Union - which represents most bus drivers - is that threatened services are used mainly by poorer people, the elderly and school children.

Second class travel

And there are regional factors at play as well.

Former Transport Secretary John Prescott
"Sorry mate, I've no change"
In London, the home of the UK's national media and many other agenda-setters, the bus system works reasonably well. In fact, bus travel in the city is up.

"If politicians and journalists used the buses far more it would definitely be higher up the agenda," says the union spokesman.

Another problem is that, unlike Railtrack, the bus industry is highly localised. There might be lots of strikes or other local problems around the country. But none of these is likely to attract the interest of the national media.

According to the union the top five missing bus stories include:

Strikes: There is an "unprecedented strike wave" around the country. Industrial action has been threatened in cities such as Belfast, Harrogate, Stoke and Newcastle. But few of these strikes ever make the national news because each one is the result of a local dispute.

Trains
In news terms at least, they're a goer

Staff shortages: The industry is finding it hard to recruit and keep staff - some of whom earn less than �5 an hour and face such severe hazards - examples include stress, heart disease and poor working conditions - that 98% leave the industry before reaching retirement age.

Inability to hold down rates of pay and still find drivers is one of the main reasons for the predicted two million fall in services.

Passenger rage: There is a "growing and serious problem" of attacks on drivers.

Attacks and threats of attack, especially late at night, are becoming more frequent and drivers are demanding expensive protective measures like CCTV, radio links and safety screens.

Bus passengers: Faceless to the media

Equal opportunities: The TGWU claims operating companies are lagging behind in providing facilities such as female toilets now that a bigger proportion of drivers are women.

Good news: Not all is doom and gloom in the bus industry. Some bus operators have tarted up their stock and in some parts of the country - especially London - more bus lanes are increasingly making them an attractive alternative. But, according to the union, this "good news" is even less likely to make it into the headlines.

But that's the trouble with news stories about buses.

You wait and wait for ages... and then five come along all at once.


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