Projects to boost rural bus services set to benefit from funding
Schemes will improve convenience, helping residents access services at times and locations that suit them
Comes as Government publishes major new bus strategy, outlining most ambitious reform to the sector in a generation
Projects to improve bus services in rural areas of the East Midlands are set to benefit from £2.8 million, Transport Minister Baroness Vere announced this week, as the Government unveils the most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation.
The investment is part of a £20 million fund to support innovative on-demand services, such as minibuses that can be booked via an app, which are able to get closer to where people live in rural and suburban areas, and at a time convenient for them.
The allocations from the Rural Mobility Fund come as the UK Government launches its new National Bus Strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, which will see passengers across England benefiting from more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services.
The changes include:
simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs
more services in the evenings and at the weekends
integrated services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train
all buses to accept contactless payments
The funding being allocated today will enable local authorities to trial innovative projects in rural and suburban areas, where traditional timetabled services often aren’t practical.
Leicestershire County Council will receive £1,300,000 to fund three minibuses operating 6am-7.30pm Monday to Saturday, which can be booked through a mobile app. The service, which would build on the area’s existing demand responsive transport, would add to conventional, timetabled bus services which are in operation. The funding would help people get to work, support the local economy and boost sustainable travel in the area.
Meanwhile Nottinghamshire County Council will receive £1,497,000 to fund around eight 16-seater, wheelchair-accessible buses, which will be bookable in advance. The existing bus services in the area are infrequent and do not cover the most rural communities. The new services would help people living in the Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood districts in the north east of the county, the rural western areas of the Rushcliffe districts, and the Ladybrook, Oak Tree and Berry Hill housing estates on the suburban fringe of Mansfield better access jobs, education and healthcare. As well as boosting travel options for residents, the new service could help the thousands of visitors who visit the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre every year explore the region.
Transport Minister, Baroness Vere, said: “Buses are the life-blood of our communities. They get us to work, to school and to see friends and family. Put simply, they help us make the little everyday journeys that make up our lives.
“In places where people are more dispersed, and the distance they need to travel is longer, it can be harder for traditional, timetabled bus services to truly meet their needs.
“The funding we are announcing today will give local authorities the opportunity to trial services that work better for communities – such as wheelchair-accessible minibuses that can be booked on an app on request. The schemes will help people who’ve had limited transport links for too long get to where they need to be.”
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