Bus Strategy and Service Improvement survey

The government’s national bus strategy for England, Bus Back Better, was published on 15 March 2021. It set out how local transport authorities and bus operators would work in partnership to deliver better bus services in their area.

The Bus Back Better strategy required all transport authorities to work with bus companies to develop a bus service improvement plan by 31 October 2021.

We undertook a survey with both bus users and the wider community to determine which measures for improving bus services to prioritise. The survey ran from Monday 2 August to midnight on Friday 3 September 2021.

We received over 1,800 responses to the survey. 

Priorities highlighted by members of the public through the online survey included:

• Safety and security
• Shared ticketing between bus operators
• More punctual and reliable services
• Better provision of concessionary fare schemes, consistent across operators
• Cheaper fares
• More frequent services
• More direct services (i.e. fewer interchanges)

The priorities highlighted through the survey helped to inform the prioritisation of measures taken forward in the Bus Service Improvement Plan.

At its meeting on 19 October 2021, Buckinghamshire Council approved the Bus Service Improvement Plan (PDF, 3.15MB).

The objectives of the Bus Service Improvement Plan are summarised as follows:

1. Putting transport users first
2. Improve reliability of bus services
3. Make bus services easier and more attractive to use
4. Support our climate change strategy and decarbonisation
5. Encourage network and patronage growth

Further in-depth analysis of long-form written responses will contribute to development of the Enhanced Partnership agreement with bus operators. This will help inform and prioritise specific measures to improve the bus user experience.

The Enhanced Partnership Scheme(s) will cover Buckinghamshire Council’s geographic area and will come into force from April 2022.

For more about information about the Bus Service Improvement Plan and Enhanced Partnership, please visit our bus strategy webpage.