Better Buses

Ensuring that we have the transport we need in Norwich is one of my priorities for constituents.

Everyone deserves to have access to cheap, quick and reliable bus journeys. I am pleased that the Government has made better buses a central focus for levelling up and building back after the pandemic.

The Government’s £3 billion National Bus Strategy sets out how bus services will be reformed across the country. It is the most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation, which will see lower, simpler flat flares in towns and cities, turn-up-and-go services on main routes and new flexible services to reconnect communities.

I am reassured that a range of new measures will be put in place, including hundreds of miles of new bus lanes, simpler bus fares with daily caps, more services in the evenings and at the weekends, all buses to accept contactless payments, and greater integration of services and ticketing across all transport modes.

The strategy encourages operators and local councils to enter into statutory “enhanced partnerships” or franchising agreements in order to receive the new funding and deliver the improvements. This will allow local authorities to work closely with bus companies, drawing on their operating knowledge and marketing skills.

I am pleased that the Government will hold a consultation later this year on reforming the Bus Service Operators Grant. The Government helps subsidise bus services by funding the grant which is paid to operators of eligible bus service and community transport organisations to help them recover some of their fuel costs. This aims to benefit passengers by helping operators keep fares down, and further enabling operators to run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and cancelled. 

The Government expects local authorities to produce Bus Service Improvement Plans by the end of October which will need to set out ambitious visions for travel by bus.

I am confident that this approach will help deliver the bus services that passengers deserve and support our decarbonisation goals by making the bus an attractive alternative to the car for far more people.

Locally, a £32 million investment in Norwich buses has already helped to improve bus stop infrastructure, pedestrian, cycle and public realm facilities. This investment is already helping people in our area. 

I hope this reassures constituents that the Government is continuing to put measures in place to ensure that bus services remain affordable and reliable.