Buckinghamshire Council has published its Bus Service Improvement Plan, which sets out a strategy to improve public transport in Buckinghamshire.
Following the publication of the government's National Bus Strategy – Bus Back Better – Buckinghamshire Council has committed to entering into an Enhanced Partnership with local bus operators. The Bus Service Improvement Plan sets out how they will work together to deliver positive changes for the benefit of passengers.
Buckinghamshire's Bus Service Improvement Plan has been developed in line with the National Bus Strategy and aims to make buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and better coordinated for local users.
The National Bus Strategy also gives a greater role for local authorities, such as Buckinghamshire Council, in the planning and provision of bus services and sets out government plans to spend £3 billion they have committed to improve bus services outside London. This will include providing funding direct to local authorities to help deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans.
Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport, said:
"The current, deregulated funding model for bus services is not meeting the needs of passengers, with little incentive for integrated ticketing, or for operators to run services that are unprofitable outside of peak hours.
Also, some services which could be run commercially prior to Covid-19 are now struggling to do so without financial support.
"Our new Bus Service Improvement Plan puts users at the heart of the strategy. Before creating and adopting the Plan, we ran a public consultation that resulted in more than 2,000 residents and local organisations telling us what they'd like to see improved with Buckinghamshire's bus services.
I'd like to thank everyone who provided feedback and suggestions as part of this consultation. Their stated priorities have helped to shape our new plan."
The Bus Service Improvement Plan is a live document, which will be updated on an annual basis following publication.
For more information, see here: https://bit.ly/BusServiceImprovementPlan
