Warwickshire County Council has reacted to the government’s National Bus Strategy by producing the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
Warwickshire County Council has reacted to the government’s National Bus Strategy by producing the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
The plan sets out the improvements that are needed to transform bus services in Warwickshire, as well as being a document which will support the council in its bid to central Government for a £150million share of the £3bn funding available to local authorities to help boost bus travel over a three-year period (2022-2025).
The plan has been developed collaboratively with local bus operators following engagement with the local community and other partners. This included a county-wide survey with a total of 1,563 responses, engagement with user groups and interviews with stakeholders.
The initial targets set in the Warwickshire BSIP focus on increasing passenger satisfaction, achieving passenger growth, improving bus punctuality and reducing bus journey times.
WCC and the bus operators will now start work on an Enhanced Partnership (EP) Plan and Schemes based on the content of the Warwickshire BSIP by April 2022. Once agreed, the programme of high and medium priority schemes will be delivered within a three-year timeframe (2022-25).
The public will once again be invited to have their say, with a consultation likely to commence in December 2021 allowing local people to provide further comments on bus services to shape and finalise the Enhanced Partnership Plan and the first EP Schemes, which must be formally agreed with bus operators by 1 April 2022.
When finalised, the Enhanced Partnership Plan arising from the Warwickshire BSIP aims to create:
- Fully integrated bus services with more frequent and reliable services and a better fleet of buses.
- The availability of simple multi bus operator tickets, multi-modal tickets and ‘tap in / tap off’ fare payment to make travel simpler.
- High quality information for passengers and those considering taking the bus.
- Better turn-up and go/demand responsive transport service frequencies that run into the evening and weekends.
- Bus priority measures on roads.
- Growing bus patronage.
- Financial support for buses.
Councillor Wallace Redford, WCC’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Planning said:
“Warwickshire can achieve great things when we work together. We’ve worked in partnership with local bus operators to produce an ambitious plan for our bus services which we hope will enable us to deliver a reliable, sustainable and reasonably priced bus service for local people that can support our retail and leisure economy and help people get to work.
“The pandemic has put our public transport network under strain and passenger levels are below where they should be. By delivering the plans outlined in the BSIP, we will improve our air quality and encourage more people to travel in a sustainable way.”
Full details of the Warwickshire BSIP here