Is access to public transport necessary for realising key human rights?

Ahead of Quality Bus 2025, in partnership with Landor LINKS Live! Our own Cathryn Jones and Emma Pym at SYSTRA are hosting a webinar series on the theme of public transport and its crucial ties to accessing work, health and education.

Some cities are actively declaring themselves as “Human Rights Cities,” where human rights principles are central to all local policies and decision-making processes. This can include integrating human rights considerations into urban development and transport planning – but commitments are often vague.

The Human Rights Cities approach acknowledges that access to public transport can be crucial for realising various human rights. York, UK, is a Human Rights City, but it hasn’t chosen public transport as one of its priority policy areas, unlike Barcelona and Tallin.

So back in the UK, there is no real acknowledgement that access to public transport is necessary for realising various human rights such as access to work, health and education. There is, however, mention of socially necessary services in the Buses Bill. Mention, but no real definition.

In this webinar, a companion to Quality Bus 2025, a panel of experts will discuss:

• What is really coming in the Buses Bill? Will it be Big and Beautiful, or Little and Limited?
• What are socially necessary services and how should their protection be organised and managed?
• How do – or should – local authorities raise funding for buses and public transport and how can services be improved with innovative funding mechanisms?
• Many countries and regions have laws or regulations that specify minimum service levels for public transport, including bus services. What are the varying legal frameworks behind these, and how do they operate in practice?
• Free public transport: does it actually mean better services and increased ridership? Chair: Cathryn Jones, Director of Fares and Ticketing, Systra

Speakers:

• Jerome Serodio, National Coordination of Collectives for Free Public Transport in France
• Brian Wong, Partner, Burges Salmon
• Emma Pym, Principal Research Consultant, SYSTRA
• Phil Wright, Public Transport Programme Manager, West of England Combined Authority