The automotive sector is a dynamic industry, shaped by digitalisation, innovation and evolving regulations. However, there is one problem that remains persistently difficult and has become even more acute since the COVID-19 pandemic: the driver shortage. At Busworld Europe 2025, industry stakeholders emphasized the urgency of overcoming this challenge and showcased a range of solutions, with a focus on attracting more female drivers to the bus and coach segment.
A deepening structural challenge
The driver shortage has become one of the most pressing challenges in Europe’s mobility ecosystem. Figures presented at Busworld Europe 2025 indicate that the EU is currently short of around 105,000 professional drivers, representing 10% of the total workforce. If left unaddressed, the gap is projected to widen considerably, reaching approximately 275,000 vacant positions by 2028.
This shortage comes at a crucial time. Buses and coaches are increasingly central to Europe’s sustainability agenda, playing a key role in reducing emissions and moving travelers away from private cars towards shared mobility solutions. Without enough qualified drivers, these political ambitions risk falling short. The impact extends far beyond climate goals: public transportation sustains daily life, and driver shortages disrupt services for commuters, limit business, and weaken local economies.
In particular, the situation is neither improving nor deteriorating: it is stagnating. Persistent retention and recruitment challenges are largely due to unattractive working conditions, including disruptive shift patterns, long-distance routes that keep drivers away from home, limited access to facilities such as toilets, isolation from colleagues and rigid career progression. Compounding the problem is the lack of diversity within the bus driving workforce. Women and younger workers remain significantly underrepresented across Europe. Data shared at Busworld Europe 2025 illustrates the magnitude of the imbalance: women represent only 10-12% of bus drivers in London.
Building a more inclusive bus driving profession
These challenges highlight the need to redesign the bus driver role itself, rather than relying solely on recruitment campaigns. Closing the driver gap will require both a significant improvement in working conditions and a deliberate effort to create opportunities for underrepresented segments of the workforce. Creating an inclusive environment that actively encourages and supports young and female drivers should be a core element of this strategy.
The practical measures suggested to address the problem, particularly in terms of attracting more female drivers, generally fall into three areas: targeted marketing and recruitment, improved working conditions, and representation quotas or targets.
1. Marketing and recruiting redesign
At Busworld Europe, Kerri Cheek from Transport for London’s safety and development team highlighted the need for recruitment campaigns that better include and attract women. She noted the importance of reshaping the way the role is presented, for example by actively challenging gender stereotypes that remain embedded in the industry’s culture.
One of the measures discussed was the introduction of women-only recruitment days. These events can provide a more trust-building environment while helping to create a sense of community among candidates.
2. Better working conditions to support retention
Poor working conditions are felt throughout the bus driving workforce, but may disproportionately deter women from taking on and remaining in driving positions. Disruptive schedules, such as starting early and finishing late, can clash with caregiving responsibilities; inadequate welfare services raise genuine concerns about women’s health; and solitary work environments can increase perceived safety risks. Limited career flexibility and unclear progression can also be barriers, especially for women who need time off on maternity leave and a supported pathway back to work.
Addressing these issues requires more investment in both infrastructure and operations. The measures include the installation of accessible toilet facilities, the improvement
onboard safety features, improve communication between colleagues and reduce excessively long shifts to better meet childcare needs. Greater career flexibility, including structured return-to-work options after parental leave, can further improve retention and make the profession more attractive to women. While these changes may have a particular impact on female drivers, they are ultimately universal improvements that raise standards for everyone, contributing to a more sustainable and resilient bus and coach industry.
3. Data-driven goals: quotas
Cheek also highlighted the value of data-driven recruiting goals, including the use of quotas. As a practical example, Go-Ahead Group aims to achieve 50% gender equality in its bus workforce by 2035. Setting such targets can help counteract unconscious bias and outdated recruitment practices by ensuring that women are consistently and actively considered during recruitment and progression processes. At the same time, data-driven targets serve an important signaling function. By making women more visible in driving roles, they can help change perceptions of the profession and encourage women to see bus driving as a realistic and attractive career path.
From solutions to implementation: the challenges ahead
While many solutions were discussed, each comes with practical and structural challenges.
Firstly, addressing gender stereotypes within the bus and coach industry is a deep-rooted and long-term challenge. These perceptions extend far beyond recruiting campaigns and reflect broader cultural norms. Meaningful change therefore requires sustained effort over time, including early engagement across schools and educational pathways, not just short-term initiatives.
Second, improving working conditions may be difficult to achieve in practice. While improvements such as improved wellness facilities, flexible scheduling and investments in safety are considered essential, they often require significant investment by operators.
Furthermore, these measures may only be viable once driver skills improve. For example, allowing flexible time off when there are already staff shortages can be operationally difficult, limiting the scope for immediate change.
Finally, quotas and objectives need to be carefully designed. Broad targets that increase female employment in non-driving roles may not directly address the driver shortage, and ongoing monitoring is essential to ensure meaningful progress.
Conclusion: Turn driver shortages into opportunities
The European bus and coach sector is facing a serious driver shortage, impacting mobility and sustainability. Solving this isn’t just about hiring more people – it means rethinking the role, improving working conditions and creating a genuinely inclusive environment for women and younger drivers. By taking practical, coordinated action and setting clear goals, the industry can turn this challenge into a step towards a sustainable and adaptable workforce.
Karishma Quessou, Commercial vehicle analyst, Global data
“Tackling Europe’s Bus Driver Shortage” was created and originally published by Just Auto, a brand owned by GlobalData.
The information contained on this site has been included in good faith for general information purposes only. It is not intended to be advice on which you should rely, and we make no representation or warranty, whether express or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action based on the content on our site.
