A TOTAL £10.5million has been allocated by the Government to further improve and protect bus services across the West Midlands, writes Jessica Blissitt.
The cash was confirmed by Road Minister Richard Holden earlier today as part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP+) for 2024 to 2025.
It follows the first £130million BSIP+ and BSIP investments for the West Midlands for 2022 through to early 2025, taking the total government support to help improve bus services in the region to £140.6million over three years.
The funding will enable residents in the region to benefit from lower fares, improved reliability, and punctuality, as well as new and improved bus services.
From introducing new services, or enhancing existing ones in the weekends or evenings, or to making tickets cheaper through reduced fares for elderly or young people, local authorities can use the new BSIP+ allocations in several ways to improve bus services for all residents in the West Midlands.
Local authorities can also use the investment to protect bus services with low passenger numbers, so that residents in the West Midlands who rely on them for essential services can continue to access their local bus.
Mr Holden said: “Buses are the most popular form of public transport, and so many residents in the West Midlands rely on their local service to get to work, attend medical appointments, and see loved ones.
“We are delivering for local communities across six local authorities by providing a further £10.5million to improve and protect essential local services, as we continue to boost transport connections in the West Midlands to help grow the economy.”
To help people with cost-of-living pressures and save on everyday travel costs, the government has also invested £200million to extend the bus fare cap, with single bus tickets outside London capped at £2 until the end of October 2023 and then at £2.50 until November 30, 2024.
Silviya Barrett, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We’re pleased the £2 bus fare cap we campaigned for has been a success, reducing fares and boosting passenger numbers.
“The additional funds for local authorities announced today are also welcome and we hope that this is just the start of ongoing investment in bus networks across the country.”
The Government has invested £3.5billion across the country since 2020 to protect and improve bus services in England while keeping fares low, help people save money on travel and grow the economy.
