Böcker av Chris Cheek

Understanding Buses offers a clear, non-technical, jargon-free explanation of how the bus industry works, from experienced industry expert Chris Cheek.

This report focuses on the future of the bus industry following the change of government in July 2024, setting it in the context of the changes that have taken place since the last Labour government left office in 2010. It contains analysis of:Where we have come fromThe bus market as it has evolved since 2010, looking at income, service levels, patronage, fare levels, costs and financial performanceBus RegulationCurrent status of the National Bus Strategy, BSIPs, Franchising and Enhanced Partnerships, including funding allocationsThe Key Tasks AheadA detailed look at the four key tasks that the government, local authorities and operators need to deliver over the next few years, including: Improving performance, Increasing Service Levels, Decarbonising the Fleet, Net Zero and Modal Shift, featuring estimates of costs and other indicators.Alongside this, it provides the latest update on the Bus Industry Monitor methodology for suggesting what level of profits operators need to earn in order to sustain themselves and meet their financial obligations.The report also features five detailed Appendices to support the 100-page text, which is illustrated with 18 charts and 24 tables.

Why should it matter to me that there was going to be a good-looking, charming gay boy around the office? I was forty-two, for God's sake and had nothing to offer a young man like that, even if I was prepared to do anything about my sexuality. Which I was not. Because we all knew what the outcome of that would be. So there. End of subject.Prickly, irascible and totally dedicated to his environmental consultancy business, Steve Frazer has no time for hook-ups or relationships; they belong to the past, to another life that he left behind two decades ago. Consequently, his powerful attraction to a new recruit, bright, funny, out-and-proud Josh Ashcroft, is an unwelcome emotion.Initially the two men clash badly. Steve's attempts to rein in his feelings make him seem cruel and intolerant. Josh, battling the pressures of his first major job, struggles to cope with his boss's harshness. Yet despite this, the two men are drawn to each other…Their burgeoning relationship awakens painful memories for both men. If they are to have a future together, they need to shed the baggage of the past and reclaim their lives. Is that possible? And how will Steve cope with a family bereavement that draws him back home to the village he has not seen for twenty years, since the events that drove him to a solitary, loveless existence?