28th June 2023 – Endeavour Square, Stratford
We want to attract more women in the bus and coach industry. That’s why we’re proud to have launched the Women in Bus and Coach initiative.
About Initiative
More than half of bus customers are women. However, only around 10% of the people who work in the bus industry are women.
The Women in the Bus and Coach initiative will challenge and eliminate barriers currently faced by women in the profession. It will create a more inclusive service that is representative of customers. This change will help to make sure that women have equal access to a career in the industry and a workplace designed around their needs.
TfL is hosting this initiative, and longer term it will be run by the industry. The network, made up of industry leads, will provide a collaborative forum to share expertise. It will also help to develop solutions to make careers more attractive to women of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities.
Louise Cheeseman, Director of Bus at TfL said: “The bus and coach industries provide incredible opportunities for a varied, challenging and ultimately rewarding career. It is only right that women, whatever their background, have equal access to these opportunities and a workplace designed around their needs. We’ve made significant progress in recent years in recruiting more women into the industry, and I can’t wait to work further with stakeholders to launch this charter and achieve a professional environment and culture that not only works for women, but also delivers bus and coach services that better meet the needs of women.”
David Cutts, Managing Director at Go Ahead London said: “This is a great initiative, and I am 100 per cent behind TfL, in working towards improving the gender balance of our industry. We must seize this opportunity, collaborate, and find ways to make the bus industry a more appealing career choice for women.”
Ruth Salmon, Consultancy Lead, Safety at TRL said: “Encouraging more women to join the bus industry will lead to so many positives – from introducing more diversity of thought and fostering a more open culture to address challenges in labour recruitment and retention. I am delighted to be part of this group supporting women in bus.”
Lorna Murphy, Operations and HR Director at Abellio London said: “I’m so excited to have been a part of the Women in Bus & Coach London launch event. Having worked in the industry for nearly 18 years, it’s rare to have been in a room filled with so many fantastic women and the energy on the night was incredible. Women in Bus & Coach is a much-needed initiative – not only to break down entry barriers and bring more women into this fantastic sector, but also to help women already here to learn, navigate and succeed in their careers. The gender proportions are improving across bus and coach but not quickly enough and that diversity is so important to drive further success, bring thought leadership and ensure we continue to be reflective of the communities we serve.”
Leon Daniels OBE said: “Not only has there been tremendous progress in women taking more roles in transport in UK, much the same applies internationally. But there is so much more to be done. Not only should our workforce reflect our passenger dynamic, we have a real task to make sure that the wide-range of high quality jobs across bus and coach are made attractive for women to look to fill.”
Get involved.
Email us at WomenInBusandCoach@tfl.gov.uk if you work in the UK bus and coach industry and want to find out more.
