The Bus Centre of Excellence’s (BCoE) Bus Knowledge Sharing and Incident (Bus KSI) was established in 2023, looking to improve bus safety across the country.

“Through the Bus KSI Network, we’re very keen to improve bus safety at a national level. It's about bringing together safety experts and bus professionals from across the industry – from around all of the UK – to help build best practice and hopefully influence policy and regulatory direction of safety for the whole bus industry,” says Rachel Birrell, Bus Safety Development Manager at Transport for London (TfL), and a key figure in the Bus KSI Network.

“Other transport modes such as rail or air or maritime all have accident investigation branches that investigate incidents and then communicate the outcome to all stakeholders. They’re usually independent and have some level of authority, but this scenario doesn’t exist for road transport as a whole and certainly doesn't for buses.”

Aiming to solve problems, big and small

The work that the BCoE Bus KSI Network has done can be transformative, even on a relatively small level.

“There was an issue that Transport for London (TfL) noticed on a certain bus type with a high rate of fire incidents and learned of similar incidents outside London,” explains Birrell. “The solution was applicable to other buses across the country, and TfL put the message out to other operators, which meant that the wider industry could benefit and safety levels overall are improved. Not only that, but there are potential cost savings to be realised as well.”

And whether it is bridge strikes, bus driver fatigue, risk management or alternative issues, Birrell believes there is a lot the network can do to improve safety and foster collaboration across the industry. 

“Our topics can be quite broad, but one of the main goals is to improve and influence safer behaviour – and to make vehicles safer,” she explains.

The wider vision for the network is to establish it as an on-road alternative to the Rail Accident Investigation Board (RAIB), a government-led operation, with bus safety as one element of a wider road safety board.

“We don’t set specific targets – they would only come from an international level – but we see our role as facilitating and encouraging learning,” Birrell concludes. “How can we learn from serious or fatal bus incidences or safety issues, share that knowledge and take forward recommendations and best practice for operators and combined authorities?

“It’s all about networking and there is a lot of energy in the bus industry. Having a high-quality, attractive bus network, where safety is key and people feel confident when they travel, is really important.”

To join the Bus KSI Network, email bcoe@ciht.org.uk