Passenger focus chief executive Anthony Smith is seeking to win over bus operators who did not want the rail consumer watchdog to become the official voice of English bus users.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly announced last week that Passenger Focus will widen its remit to take on the new statutory role of bus passenger champion.

"Passenger Focus already does a great job representing rail passengers across the country," said Kelly. "Now it will also champion the interests of bus users, making sure their voices are heard and influencing the way local bus services operate."

The decision will disappoint those bus operators who were against giving Passenger Focus the job. First Group and Stagecoach, the two biggest bus operators outside of London, had gone public with their concerns (Transit February 15). The two companies each argued that creating a new bus champion with a national focus would divert attention away from the important local issues which effect bus services.

Speaking to Transit this week, Anthony Smith said that he had fully anticipated some opposition from bus operators, but said that they have nothing to fear from Passenger Focus.

"We are not looking for powers," he said. "We have no ambitions to become a regulator."

Passenger Focus should be judged on its work, Smith argued. "If we produce some reports that are worth listening to then people will listen," he said. "We will have to stand on our merits." Smith said the situation was the same in the rail industry, where each year train operators complete an anonymous survey on whether Passenger Focus is making a valuable contribution. ÒWeÕve just had the results in from the latest survey and by and large they think that we are doing a good job," he said. "I think that is the key litmus test of our influence." Passenger Focus will now start talking to the industry and other stakeholders to discuss how the now role will work in detail. Smith accepted that the organisation has much to learn about buses. Smith said that he was keen to work with existing groups, such as Bus Users UK, which has been the non statutory representative of bus users for the past 20 years. However, the decision to make Passenger Focus the statutory bus champion raises questions over the future of this organisation, which depends on industry funding.

Bus Users UK said that it was disappointed that its own bid to become the official bus watchdog had been rejected. Its chairman, Gavin Booth, said: "We recognise that Passenger Focus in its most recent incarnation has done a good job for rail passengers, and we look forward to working alongside them to ensure that an equally good job is done for bus passengers."

Looking to the future, Booth believes that Bus Users UK still has much to offer. It remains to be seen whether it will have an ongoing role in handling passenger complaints. So far the Department for Transport has not specified exactly what Passenger Focus's extended remit will cover.