Better Transport

After you have understood the process and players behind how buses are run, you can begin to make a plan for getting the bus you need.

Planning doesn’t have to be a very formal process and the campaign plan doesn’t have to be a huge document. When you start the campaign, talk through the issues and the possibilities for doing something. Put your agreed ideas on paper and there’s your campaign plan. You don’t have to work everything out in minute detail and cover every possible eventuality – indeed, it’s best to allow for flexibility so that you can react quickly to events.

In general, you will want to influence the formal decision-making processes and also the more informal, political decision-making processes. Almost certainly, you will need to work with others and employ creative techniques to get the attention of the public and the decision-makers and demonstrate support for your campaign.

Campaign plan checklist
Objective: What exactly are you trying to achieve? By when? Have you done the necessary research to establish that your objective is viable?

Targets: Who has the power to make that change happen? What will persuade those people to act?

Allies: Who can help you to influence your campaign targets?

Timeline: Have you created a timeline, covering the key period? This key period will probably depend on issues such as when your bus will be cut or what opportunities there are for getting improved services. Bus companies only have to give 56 days notice when they are changing or cutting a service and you may not find out straight away so you might have a very short time in which to act. Your timeline should include external events that you will need to influence, like council meetings, as well as events whose timing you control, like meetings and press work.