Urban Public Transport

ON THE GROUND

The latest news on the issues affecting us all, and the actions we’re taking to improve our workers’ lives and futures.

News 29 Jul 2026

UK public transport unions sound the alarm over lack of toilet access for drivers

Public transport unions in the United Kingdom are raising urgent concerns about the lack of access to toilet facilities for bus and train drivers, a problem that has persisted for years but is now reaching a breaking point. Reports from across the UK show drivers being forced to work entire shifts without guaranteed access to a toilet, leaving them to rely on improvised or unsafe alternatives, including urinating in bottles in their driving cab. Some unions are now considering industrial action to force employers and authorities to act.

Railways

Urban Public Transport

News 10 Jun 2026

Public Transport: Third Regional Workshop gathered unions in Berlin (TU4BPT Project)

The third regional workshop of the TU4BPT project took place on 2 and 3 June, gathering trade union representatives from the public transport sector to deepen their understanding of, and readiness for, the twin transitions currently transforming the industry: the green transition and the digital transition.

Urban Public Transport

News 29 May 2026

ETF, ITF and IRU call for stronger safety rules to protect bus drivers in frontal collisions

In a joint letter addressed to the government representatives in the UNECE Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP), ETF, ITF and IRU highlight that bus drivers remain at serious risk in frontal crashes. The letter urges the government representatives to work on this issue, including the creation of a dedicated working group as proposed by the Norwegian government.

Road Transport

Social Dialogue

Road Transport

Urban Public Transport

ISSUES

Workers in the sector face threats from liberalisation and privatisation programmes. Social dumping in public transport is facilitated by the growing competition created by tendering of public transport services, some of which is encouraged by EU rules. New forms of work such as Uber are also undermining quality employment in urban public transport.

ETF believes that mobility is a citizen’s right which must be guaranteed by access to inclusive and affordable public transport. Moreover, public transport is a solution for sustainable mobility, contributing to the fight against climate change, congestion and air/noise pollution in cities. UPT thus contributes to the health and wellbeing of European citizens.

Contact us

Email

WHAT WE DO

ETF’s Urban Public Transport Committee (UPTC) acts to defend the interests of public transport workers in Europe. We want to safeguard and improve their social rights in an evolving economic environment, which endangers both working conditions and the very existence of collective public transport. We work to promote public transport as a solution for sustainable mobility, reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.

Our trade union vision for sustainable urban mobility means improved safety for both passengers and workers, and a coherent social strategy for the future of public transport in the era of decarbonization, digitalisation and automation.

WHERE WE FOCUS

For the ETF quality public transport services for citizens and good working conditions for public transport workers go hand in hand. One is not possible without the other.

The priorities of the ETF Urban Public Transport (UPT) Committee for the 2022 – 2027 period are:

To campaign for a greening of urban mobility that has the UPT at its core;
To promote an urban public transport that stays in public hands, centred on job safety and quality, democratic control, mobility equality;
Build capacity to enable UPTC members influence policy making at national and European level
Foster alliances with organisations and movements sharing same goals and objectives, to build power in fighting for a socially and environmentally sustainable urban mobility

SOCIAL DIALOGUE

European social dialogue in the urban public transport (UPT) sector was launched in 2001 as part of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC) for Road Transport. On the employers’ side, ETF’s main social partner is the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

Our Priorities for 2023–2024