Norfolk County Council has been successful in securing £49.55m of funding from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to improve the county’s bus services and facilities.
In October 2021, the council published Norfolk’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, which outlines its ambitions for the next five years.
In April this year the DfT notified the council of an indicative allocation of funding for three years.
The council has since worked with bus operators to shape details of what the money would be spent on should it be secured.
To help shape its plans, in May Norfolk County Council launched a consultation asking for residents’ views on bus services in the county.
More than 1,500 people took part to identify what the barriers are to using buses and which of the priorities within the plan are most important to them.
The final plan includes: lower fares for under 25 year olds, bus priority schemes, more real time information, improved waiting areas and integrated travel hubs, and new and more frequent services.
Linda McCord, independent chair of the Norfolk Enhanced Partnership, and who works for passenger representative body Transport Focus, said: “Securing this money is a major boost for travel across Norfolk.
“In less than five months our Enhanced Partnership has already delivered a new single ticket for use across all operators, has created a marketing campaign to encourage more people to use the bus, has agreed a single customer charter for all operators and has signed up to a single travel brand for the county with Travel Norfolk – so I’m very excited to see more of our plans being delivered over the next three years.”
