Travel demand management - Milton Keynes buses - initial research
Project facts
- Client
- Milton Keynes City Council
- Location
- Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
- Date
- September 2025 – January 2026
- Challenge
- Major 2024–25 incidents disrupted MK buses, revealing gaps in current protocols and responses.
- Solution
- ITP led workshops with key teams to identify gaps and improve MK’s bus incident management.
The challenge
Major incidents and emergencies occurred in Milton Keynes in 2024 and 2025, including a significant police incident and a large fire. Both events had a significant impact on bus services and the city's bus network, and the events exposed some of the potential gaps in the current protocols and responses as a partnership involving the Council and bus operators. Both parties work very closely and were keen to explore what improvements could be made to enhance the response to incidents in the future.The solution
To support Milton Keynes City Council in understanding what gaps may exist in current travel demand management and incident management protocols and responses related to the bus network, ITP organised a set of information-gathering workshops with key stakeholders, including transport, highways and emergency planning teams and representatives from bus operators.
Using team members who have vast experience working on Travel Demand Management strategies for large sporting events and for combined authorities, ITP was able to design the workshops to draw out key concerns and focus areas from individuals, alongside any existing processes that were working well and could be built upon further.
It was a pleasure to lead this project for Milton Keynes City Council, working closely with bus operators, our engagement approach allowed us to review key issues and provide a tangible action plan for future Travel demand management measures.
The result
ITP collated all findings into a concise technical note, which included detailed recommendations, ranked by ease of implementation and required timescales. Recommendations included but were not limited to: creating a formalised incident classification matrix to guide response levels and communication requirements, to build on the existing production of "Disruption Maps" for key areas of the city and to consider formalising the cross-ticket acceptance approach during major incidents.
The technical note has provided the Council with a clear action plan to take forward. By focusing on TDM responses and better preparing for incidents on the bus network, congestion and associated disruption during times of impact will be reduced, creating a better experience for bus passengers across the city.
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