Making Buses a Better Choice 2020

Peter Huntley had a long career in public transport, working in transport co-ordination for local authorities, as a consultant at The TAS Partnership, as a journalist and writer, and as an inspirational managing director of a bus company, Go North East, between 2006 and 2011. He was tragically killed in a climbing accident in February 2012 at the age of 55.

Peter helped to found the UK Bus Awards in 1995 and we have dedicated this award in his memory as the category that best represents the breadth of his interests and his passion for excellence.

About the Award

This Award is designed to recognise and reward initiatives, projects or innovations which add value to, or improve the attractiveness of, bus services – primarily by reducing the generalised cost of bus travel.

• The judges will be looking for a scheme, project or partnership that achieved one or more of the following:
• improved the provision of an existing bus service
• improved passenger facilities on an existing bus service
• provided a genuinely innovative new service
• improved services through new infrastructure or facilities giving faster and/or more reliable journeys.

Who can be nominated?

Entries will be welcomed from operators, authorities and others specifying and securing services, partnerships and tourist agencies.

… and by whom?

Nominations will be accepted from all eligible organisations and self-nomination is acceptable.

Criteria and Entry Requirements

The judges will be looking for entries which add value to, or otherwise improve, bus services by making them faster, more efficient, offer improved passenger facilities or able to provide a better service. Decisions will be based on the quality of the submissions made and the extent to which they address the criteria.

Note that where schemes have equal or equivalent merit, the final determinants will be the nature and extent of improvements for customers and the degree of priority accorded to buses.

Entry submissions should therefore:

• Describe the services or schemes involved.
• Describe the objectives set for the initiative.
• Describe how the needs of existing and potential additional passengers, including those with mobility difficulties, were met
• Describe any environmental benefits and show how any environmental impacts were minimised
• State whether a partnership was involved. This may include service specification and financing and any interested bodies, including local authorities, local bus operators and other commercial organisations or user, leisure and tourist representative groups

Describe how:

• needs and potential needs were assessed, including details of market evaluation and customer research
• potential customers were informed of the improved or new product(s)
• interest in, or desire for, the product(s) was assessed
• customers’ access to the product(s) was facilitated.

Indicate the methods used to measure:

• the progress made towards meeting the objectives
• overall patronage
• the impact of promotional campaigns before, during and after the initiative
• State whether any subsequent changes were made as a result of the monitoring
• Supply statistical evidence showing the results of the initiative in terms of patronage, revenue or other appropriate indicators and modal shift.
• State whether the results are likely to be sustainable
• Describe any future plans for further development
• Include any relevant supporting material.

Entries should address each of the above criteria to assist with the judging process, because non-transferable marks will be allocated for each of these criteria.

SENDING IMAGES

Please ensure that you send JPEG files. PDFs, pictures in Word files and in PowerPoint presentations are NOT acceptable.

For people categories, it is nice to see the person in a work environment – in a driving cab, by a vehicle or with colleagues, for example – but please ensure that the nominee is clearly recognisable. A head and shoulders shot is also useful. For other categories, please send pictures of your project or your company’s activities, and send one of the team involved.

These photographs may be used by us in a variety of ways, on the Bus Awards web site, in video presentations and in souvenir brochures and other printed material including the trade press.So that we can make the most effective use of the pictures you send us, please try to ensure that they are high-resolution JPG images (300 dpi) and at least 1200 x 1600 pixels in size. This implies a file size of at least several hundred KB – more is better. If you are using a mobile phone, please select the highest quality/most mega pixel/highest file size setting.