Banish bus stop frustration: white paper calls for a national standard for printed timetables

23 September 2025

The report, Better Bus Stops: setting a standard for printed passenger information, highlights the crucial importance of having clear, accurate, consistent, and accessible printed information at bus stops. But it also reveals the mammoth task for local authorities of keeping timetables up to date:

• Essex County Council must collate information from 40 bus operators to update timetables at 6,000 bus stops
• West Midlands Combined Authority handled around 27,000 timetable updates in 2024
• Local authorities can have just weeks to provide accurate information about hundreds of services at stops all along their routes.

The solution is a national standard for printed information at bus stops, supported by technology, long-term dedicated funding, and training for local authorities, the report claims.

The requirements of the national standard should vary for different categories of bus stop, with small bus stops required to display route numbers and destinations, service frequency, and first and last bus times, and larger stops required to display fuller timetables. Most crucially, all information at bus stops should be current and accurate.

Michael Solomon Williams of Campaign for Better Transport said:

“Poor or non-existent information at bus stops is frustrating, confusing, and ultimately puts people off taking the bus. Not everyone has the tools or skills to access online information, some places have poor mobile connectivity, and many people simply find printed information much clearer. A national standard for printed information at bus stops would enable people to catch the bus with confidence, get to vital appointments, access opportunities and enjoy a better quality of life.”

Craig Nelson, Regional Managing Director, Northern Europe, at Optibus said:

“In many places, printed timetables remain the norm. The right digital tools provide a strong foundation for keeping that information accurate and up to date in the fastest, smoothest way possible. That ensures no one misses their bus simply because the information wasn’t there. When technology makes communication easy for authorities and operators, passengers are the ones who ultimately benefit.”

ENDS

For further information please contact the Campaign for Better Transport press office on 07984 773468 (calls only no texts) or communications@bettertransport.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

Better Bus Stops: setting a standard for printed passenger information has been co-produced by Campaign for Better Transport and Optibus.

It is a follow-up to Campaign for Better Transport’s 2024 report, Better Bus Stops: Creating a national bus stop standard, which revealed that the majority of bus stops currently lack up-to-date timetable information.

Campaign for Better Transport’s call for a national bus stop standard was taken up by the Transport Select Committee in its August 2025 report, Buses connecting communities.

Among the specific recommendations in Better Bus Stops: setting a standard for printed passenger information are the following:

• To ensure that it is both ambitious and pragmatic, the national standard should specify different requirements for different categories of bus stop, from major bus stations to small local stops.
• Sustainable funding mechanisms and support structures must be identified and secured, to enable all local authorities, regardless of size or current capacity, to meet the standard over time. This may involve specific allocations within future transport funding settlements, or standardising operator contributions to passenger information via updated legislation.
• To meet the challenges of providing accurate information at a large scale and in a tight timeframe, technology and innovative approaches should be encouraged through pilot schemes, R&D funding, and knowledge sharing.
• Local authorities should be supported to shift to greater automation: there is potential for modern software to ingest data from bus operators and generate timetables that meet the national standard.
• There should be a realistic, phased implementation plan for the national standard, and a framework for monitoring compliance.

Campaign for Better Transport operates in England and Wales. Campaign for Better Transport’s vision is for all communities to have access to high quality, sustainable transport that meets their needs, improves quality of life and protects the environment. Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust is a registered charity (1101929).

Optibus is a unified software platform for public transportation planning, scheduling, rostering, operations, real-time control, and passenger information, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and optimisation algorithms. In thousands of cities worldwide, transportation agencies and operators use Optibus to maximise the positive impact of public transportation on passengers and the planet, improve operational efficiency and service quality, promote transportation equity, reduce emissions and costs, and modernise operations.