We’re working with Better Buses campaigners from across the UK to put on this special online event to mark 40 years since the disastrous policy of bus deregulation was implemented.
Bus Deregulation: Fighting to end 40 years of Failure
Saturday 24 October 2026, 2pm-3:30pm
The 26 October 1986 was known as โD-Dayโ, when the disastrous policy of bus deregulation was imposed everywhere across England, Scotland and Wales, except London.
It caused chaos, by stripping control over vital bus services away from public bodies and handing it to private companies instead. Since then, weโve lost millions of miles of routes, fares have risen well above inflation and most parts of the country have been left with an expensive, unreliable and fragmented bus system that does not meet communitiesโ needs.
But after 40 years of failure, the tide is finally turning against bus deregulation. New publicly-controlled systems are now in place โ or soon will be over the next few years โ in many parts of England and Wales.
Join our Better Buses National Conference Online Event to hear more about the grassroots campaigns which have led to this much needed policy change. We will learn more about the history of bus deregulation, the campaigners who fought against it at the time, and the devastating impact it has had on human rights.
There will be time for Q&As with speakers exploring the progress being made in different parts of the country, sharing skills and providing tips to help you get involved in the fight for Better Buses for all.
Speakers include:
- Professor Philip Alston, former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty & Human Rights and author of ‘Public Transport, Private Profit: The Human Cost of Privatising Buses in the United Kingdom‘
- Jonathan Bray, former Director of the Urban Transport Group
- Ellie Harrison, bus campaigner & creator of โBus Regulation: The Musicalโ
- Fran Postlethwaite, campaigner with Better Buses for South Yorkshire & convenor of the Better Buses National Coalition
- Susie Wood and Paul Shaw, campaigners with Better Buses for Strathclyde
- Jeff Turner, Transport, Gender & Social Equity Consultant
- Johnbosco Nwogbo, Lead Campaigner with We Own It
Organised & Supported by:
Yorkshire & Humber Pensioners Convention, York Bus Forum, Better Buses for West Yorkshire, Better Buses for South Yorkshire, Get Glasgow Moving, Better Buses for Strathclyde, Save Our Buses Kent, UCU Yorkshire & Humberside Retired Members Branch, North East Public Transport Users Group, We Own It, Leeds Disabled People Against Cuts, Better Buses East Midlands, Association of British Commuters, Unite Community South Yorkshire, RMT Ashford No.1 Branch, Fare Free London, Low Traffic Future and the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS).
The Better Buses National Conference is part of York Environment Festival 2026
