Bus stops really matter, as these Bus Stop Stories show

13 February 2026  |  Michael Solomon Williams  |  Buses

The decline of the high street is well documented, and a huge challenge which we must address. So much of our shared life has gone online, and many of the civic hubs that once brought us together – post offices, libraries, pubs and cultural centres – are now far rarer than they were. So, which shared places or pieces of public infrastructure remain? Perhaps the most familiar and widespread are bus stops. Even when phone boxes were at their peak (with around 100,000 across England and Wales in the 1990s), bus stops still easily outnumbered them, and today, there are roughly 270,000 bus stops.

And here’s the thing: bus stops really matter to people, so people notice both when they work well and when they don’t. If we needed any indication of how much they can matter, we only need to look at the Sheringham bus shelter campaign, which even attracted the support of the Prime Minister.

So what are we doing about this? Our report, Better Bus Stops: creating a national bus stop standard, identified something surprisingly simple but important: while there are standards for railway stations and tram stops, there were no standards at all for bus stops. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that our survey found only 16% of bus stops had up-to-date route maps or digital information, and only a third had up-to-date timetables. Seating, shelter and other basic infrastructure varied hugely in quality.

Fortunately, the report and campaign have been very well received. Local authorities are using their ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’ funding to prioritise upgrades, just as they are being encouraged to do. Places like Wales (all of Wales!) as well as Portsmouth, Blackpool, Birmingham and others are prioritising their bus stops. But there is still some way to go before we have a clear sense of what should be expected for each local authority and, indeed, each type of bus stop, from large interchanges to simple shelters and flag stops.

Why I travelled 1,000 miles by bus…

In the meantime, we wanted to hear directly from people about their experiences. So, I set out on a journey around England and Wales, travelling from as far west as Penzance to as far east as Great Yarmouth and Clacton-on-Sea. Over 1,000 miles, I travelled through 792 bus stops across 30 towns and cities.

Bus stops aside, I have to say the buses themselves were impressive: almost everything ran on time, and the drivers were universally lovely. So what did I find out about the bus stops?

Information was the dominant theme, strongly vindicating our report’s findings. Considering how much information we now expect as standard – on trains, trams, flights, taxis, hire bikes and car clubs – many people pointed out that basic printed and digital information at bus stops would make a huge difference. At one bus stop, Annabel (right) told me:

“I do notice they don’t put a timetable up any more, so you have to look online before you come. That would be helpful if they started doing that again. And they don’t do the timetable you used to be able to pick up from the library either.”

There was a sense that provision had slipped backwards: cost-cutting, over-reliance on smartphones, and an assumption that everyone can or should look things up online. This felt unfair to many people and clearly risks digital exclusion. Adam said:

“Where I am… there’s a decent bus stop on one side, but it doesn’t have any digital information, so if things aren’t running you don’t know.”

The expectation that passengers should simply check their phone was not something people welcomed. James, a young professional, put it plainly:

“You never know when the bus is going to come, and if you haven’t got the information, you could be stranded there for an hour or two.”

Dan (left) felt the same frustration:

“My bugbear is why they don’t have a screen on every bus stop. It just gives people the information they need. You don’t always have wi-fi, you don’t always have the app – a lot of people rely on what’s in front of them.”

Where information was available, the difference was obvious. Josh said:

“They’ve got digital timetables that tell you how many minutes until the next bus and give you live updates. Sometimes it’ll tell you if a bus has been cancelled or delayed. There absolutely should be a standard for bus stops.”

The good news is that technology for real-time information has come a long way. There are now realistic, affordable options for many types of stop, including simpler infrastructure like flag stops. This is no longer a fanciful aspiration.

Alongside information, comfort and shelter mattered hugely to people. Quite a few people I spoke to were using bus stops not just to catch a bus, but as places to wait, shelter from the rain, or even meet friends and family. Jennifer told me:

“When I’ve been shopping and I’ve got a load, I want to be able to sit down and wait properly for the bus.”

At another bus stop, Hesta (right) said:

“It’s the comfort that’s important for me. I can sit down at the bus stop and wait. I really like comfort. Let’s have a bus stop standard.”

The age and background of the people I met was extremely varied, but there was a striking consistency in what mattered. Younger and older passengers alike wanted clear information, decent shelter and somewhere to sit. With climate change bringing longer, wetter winters, good-quality shelters will become even more important. Encouragingly, there is real innovation happening among manufacturers, from seating heights to materials and design, showing what is possible if we choose to prioritise bus stops properly.

All of this leaves me optimistic. Bus stops are familiar, everyday pieces of infrastructure, but they have a powerful role to play in making bus travel welcoming, accessible and attractive. With clear standards, up-to-date information, and a focus on comfort and accessibility, they could be transformed.

I hope you enjoy hearing from some of the people I met on this journey around our wonderfully bus-connected country. And who knows, perhaps we’ll set off on another journey soon, to hear some more bus stop stories as things continue to improve?

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