A ground-breaking scheme, aimed at preventing violence against women and girls in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, has helped set a standard which is now being rolled-out to other parts of the country, as part of the Buses Act 2025, according to a key local figure.
Speaking at a Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce event to mark International Women’s Day, Ian de Chastelain, Training Manager of Stagecoach East, explained that the Buses and Businesses Against Abuse (BAA) scheme, which was first launched in our region in 2024, is now inspiring three other Police forces and Stagecoach group companies to launch similar schemes.
Moreover, he said that many BAA/Stagecoach training materials and best-practice examples have helped to shape the government’s national training programme for bus drivers. Several members of the Stagecoach East team, from managers to drivers, were consulted in the writing of the new training materials.
As part of the BAA scheme, Stagecoach East’s buses are officially places of refuge for people fearing that they will be subject to abusive behaviour, in partnership with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Police Authority, and the Cambridge and Peterborough Rape Crisis Centre.
If a driver recognises that a women or girl may be in fear of abuse on the street or on the bus, they are authorised to pull over ask if assistance is needed and, if needs be, take them to a safe place on route.
Ian said: “The BAA scheme has been a huge success – since its launch we have been able to help with several major incidents, some involving the Police and Emergency Services, and one of our drivers has received a complement from the Superintendent of Police for his actions.
“These incidents have ranged from young a women who boarded one of our buses to feel safe, on seeing our ‘This bus is a safe place’ destination message, and diverting a bus service to take a young woman to a place of safety for help, to direct intervention by a driver to keep a predator away from a young woman resulting in this abusive male being arrested.
“We have always taken these issues very seriously, but the BAA partnership has driven further culture changes of enhanced safeguarding and awareness.”
All Stagecoach East buses now have BAA buttons on their ticket machines and display BAA stickers with QR codes by their entrance doors, designating them as safe-spaces. All their buses have multiple cameras, so cases of abuse are Recorded and Reported.