Articles

Meeting student needs in UK public transport: brand, behaviour and trust

Beth Michon

Each autumn, tens of thousands of new students flood into university cities across the UK. Cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Newcastle see their populations swell overnight – and with that surge comes a massive, often overlooked shift in public transport demand.

We may only talk about students as a seasonal frequenter, but they are in fact a core user group in public transport ecosystems. Government data shows that combined across buses, trains, trams, and metro, older teens take around 130–150 transit trips per year – the most of any age group. In Nottingham alone, around 70,000 new students arrive each year, according to the city’s tram operator, showing just how fundamental they are to the market.

For transport operators and local authorities, there’s a serious opportunity here. Get this audience right and you’ll build habits, brand loyalty and more importantly, fill seats. Get it wrong, and you risk losing a generation of users before they ever form the habit of hopping on a bus, tram or train.

A student generation navigating modern pressures

Today’s students are in a far more complex environment than their predecessors. The rising cost of living, housing shortages and long-term impacts from the pandemic have fundamentally changed how and where students live, and how they get around.

A 2024 Guardian survey revealed that nearly 46% of UK students now commute to university from outside the city – a significant rise compared to a decade ago. The days of students living on campus or within walking distance are fading fast. Skyrocketing rent and utility prices are to blame here, and many students now live at home or in lower-cost areas, sometimes 20-50 miles away from their university.

This creates a new layer of daily pressure and travel is no longer optional, but essential. And that means local transport services are now responsible for a growing proportion of students’ academic access, wellbeing and time management.

So, what’s going wrong – and how do we fix it?

Five student challenges we can’t ignore

1. Affordability

For many students, transport represents a rising source of financial pressure that can quietly shape everything from attendance to wellbeing. According to a major NUS survey of 3,500 students:

  • 46% spend over a quarter of their weekly budget on travel.
  • 20% have missed classes because they couldn’t afford the journey.
  • 35% have skipped extracurricular activities.
  • 33% have either missed meals or skipped family visits to save on fares.

Suddenly what would once have been a mild inconvenience, becomes so impactful it affects academic performance, mental health, social integration and even nutrition.

These are young people who want to participate, want to show up. The system is failing them when basic access costs too much. And when it comes down to choosing between the bus and breakfast, we have to act to make it work better.

What’s working?

  • Greater Manchester’s Bee Network recently launched a half-price bus pass for 18–21 year-olds. For £40, users get 28 days of unlimited bus travel, that’s roughly £1.43 per day.
  • The pass includes access to night buses and weekend services.
  • Over 150,000 young people are expected to benefit.

But such schemes are still rare, and often poorly publicised. Affordability is solvable, but only with political will, smart subsidy design and clear communication.

2. Awareness and onboarding

Every autumn, a new cohort of students arrives in cities they don’t yet understand. They’re looking for housing, signing up for societies, finding friends and often navigating public transport for the first time.

Unfortunately, transport operators often wait for students to find them. That’s a mistake.

Students don’t know:

  • Which app is official
  • What routes serve their campus
  • Where to buy passes
  • Whether they qualify for discounts
  • How to transfer between modes of transport

This lack of clarity is ultimately costly. Students avoid travel, fall back on ride-shares or just stay home. When they could be benefitting from low-cost, eco-friendly public transport instead.

There’s also a compliance cost. Where eligibility and payment rules aren’t obvious, some students make the wrong call. As Nottingham Post reported, “more than 4,500 young people” were fined on the tram. But rather than finger-wagging, brands need clearer onboarding, simpler fare language and prominent reminders in the right places.

It’s why Nottingham Express Transit (NET) coupled student discounts with myth-busting and clear fare messaging during Freshers. NET made onboarding central to its strategy, with our team supporting the creative and activation work that brought it to life. Together, we helped shape a student-first experience that included:

  • Eye-catching posters on campus ahead of Freshers’ Week
  • Branded smoothie bar that rewarded app downloads
  • Staff engagement at welcome events, driving real-time conversions

Transport operators can’t rely on websites and printed timetables anymore. Onboarding needs to be immersive, digital and meet students where they are.

3. Reliability

Students might not be 9-to-5 commuters, but their schedules are just as tight.

  • 9am lectures
  • Late-night rehearsals
  • Weekend part-time jobs

When a bus doesn’t show up, or a tram is too full to board, it has significant impact. A postgraduate student commuting from Derby to Nottingham described spending nearly three hours a day on transport:

“Sometimes I’m late for labs and they won’t let me in. But moving closer would cost me another £300 a month. I don’t have a choice.”

When reliability is so tied to a student’s success, it becomes reputational. And when students start to believe that public transport is flaky, they adjust permanently. Some form carpools. Others give up on in-person activities.

Real-time updates, transparency around frequency and clear disruption comms are lifelines to the student market.

4. Safety: perception is reality

Safety concerns are often downplayed in transport strategy – but for students, they’re front and centre.

Research by IPPR shows that:

  • Women and minority students are significantly more likely to feel unsafe after dark
  • Young people are less likely to report harassment or incidents
  • Late-night services are under-utilised because of the perception around safety

In student forums, common fears include:

  • Empty bus stops
  • Drunk passengers
  • Poor lighting at stations
  • No visible staff after 9pm

These are solvable problems:

  • Staffing night routes
  • Adding CCTV signage
  • Enabling app-based safety features (like route sharing or SOS)
  • Communicating what’s already in place

NET have increased security with CCTV on all platforms and trams, help points and a 24 hour WhatsApp number, as well as plain clothed security and uniformed staff across the network – to reassure students to help them feel safe.

Safety perception is as important as actual crime stats. If students feel unsafe, they won’t ride.

5. Accessibility and inclusion

Students with disabilities often face physical, informational and attitudinal barriers on public transport.

According to the NUS:

  • Disabled students are more likely to rely on cars or taxis
  • They report difficulty boarding buses or trams, even when marked as accessible
  • Poor service design (narrow paths, hard-to-hear announcements) reduces independence

International students face different but parallel barriers:

  • Lack of translated materials
  • Unclear payment systems
  • Apps not available in their language

This results in whole swathes of the student population being marginalised from public transport – forcing them into costlier, more carbon-intensive alternatives.

From a communication and brand perspective, often this is as much a visibility issue as an infrastructure one. Features can be in place and operational, but if they’re not clearly signposted, many students simply won’t know they’re there. There’s no single fix, but there are a few approaches worth exploring:

  • Make accessibility visible. Promote step-free access, real-time support and safety features as an integrated part of your student campaigns.
  • Simplify onboarding. Provide easy-read, multilingual guides for apps and journey planners. Partner with universities to distribute them in welcome packs.
  • Include lived experience. Work with disabled and international students to co-create messaging. It both improves clarity and builds trust.

Comparative case study: Nottingham vs. Manchester approach

Nottingham Express Transit (NET)

As outlined earlier, NET’s “Get going with NETGO!” campaign achieved remarkable results:

  • 68% YoY increase in student ticket sales in its first year
  • 174% increase in student market share by year two
  • 95% growth in academic year pass sales over three years

What worked:

  • Coordinated and cohesive Freshers’ period activation
  • Promotion of a dedicated mobile app (NETGO!)
  • Physical presence on campus (branded smoothie bars, gamified sign-ups)
  • Freshers period price reduction for season passes
  • Direct myth-busting on safety and fare evasion via social channels and out in the world
  • Focus on education of how the tram network in Nottingham works and helps students get around for less

Manchester’s Bee Network: Policy-Led Price Reform

In contrast, the Bee Network has taken a structural approach:

  • Aimed at creating a fully integrated, publicly controlled transport system
  • Introduced a half-price pass for 18–21-year-olds
  • Seamless access to all local bus services for £40 per month
  • Digital and print campaigns coordinated with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the University of Manchester

While not as “on-the-ground” as Nottingham, the policy shift is already paying off:

  • 150,000+ eligible users
  • Substantial uptake of youth passes
  • Increased off-peak usage and better intermodal coordination

Together, these two cities provide an effective blueprint:

  • One focused on communication-led activation
  • The other on policy-driven pricing reform

These contrasting approaches both delivered meaningful results. While one focused on grassroots activation and visibility, the other tackled affordability through structural reform. Both demonstrate that when students are central to the conversation, impact follows.

Common challenges

Reaching student audiences is nuanced, and even well-planned campaigns can miss the mark. Here are a few pitfalls we’ve seen crop up time and again:

  1. Assuming one-size-fits-all. The student population is incredibly diverse. International, commuter, postgraduate and disabled students have very different needs, and each group brings different expectations, habits and pressures.
  2. Leading with stunts over substance. A clever giveaway or photo moment can work, but only when backed by genuinely helpful information and clear value.
  3. Overlooking the digital experience. If the app is clunky, the journey planner confusing or the sign-up process long-winded, it only takes one poor experience to lose trust.
  4. Under-communicating safety efforts. Many networks are already investing in things like lighting, CCTV or night staff – but if those efforts aren’t visible, students may not feel the benefit.
  5. Missing the moment. The start of term is a powerful window. Students are forming habits, exploring their city and making decisions about how they’ll get around. Wait too long, and that window quickly closes.

Opportunities to consider

Short-term

  • Audit your student-facing materials: Are they clear? Up-to-date? Accessible?
  • Build visibility on campus: booths, posters, giveaways, QR codes
  • Incentivise app downloads with perks (e.g. first-ride free, discounts)
  • Join Freshers’ Week with an activation strategy

Medium-term

  • Launch co-branded campaigns with universities and student unions
  • Improve app UX and ticketing logic (especially for newcomers)
  • Establish safety communication campaigns, emphasise late-night support
  • Start tracking student satisfaction separately from general passenger data

Long-term

  • Fund accessible signage and vehicle design
  • Advocate for youth fare policies regionally (e.g. Greater Manchester’s model)
  • Create student advisory panels to co-design campaigns and feedback loops

In conclusion

With budgets tight and mounting pressures, innovation in the public transport sector is long overdue. But the good news is, a smart, strategic focus on students can unlock gains across usage, revenue, reputation and policy outcomes.

The opportunity is there. Operators like Nottingham NET and Manchester’s Bee Network have shown what’s possible. The question now is: who’s next?

Want to discuss how we can help you create a student-first campaign that drives real impact? Let’s talk.