A number of authorities either have established, or intend to establish, Bus Quality Partnerships and several refer to partnership working with rail operators and Railtrack. References to consultation vary widely in extent. Some strategies simply refer in general terms to an intention to consult in the preparation of the full strategy. Relatively few set out any detailed consultation plan. A few refer to consultation already having been carried out.
Full consultation is essential to strategy development and winning local support.
Following an initial consultation exercise in 1997, a major public consultation exercise was carried out in 1998 following a press launch of the consultation document 'Keep Glasgow Moving'. This document was extensively advertised in the media. 1400 copies of the full document and 4500 executive summaries were distributed. 1100 of these went to interest groups, community organisations and councillors or were distributed at meetings and conferences. 117 written responses were received.