A 2024 update to Hampshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) sets out a five-year plan for securing Government and private investment, over the next decade, to upgrade bus facilities, create bus priority lanes and enable timetables to be expanded with extra services – particularly in the evenings and on Sundays – with the ultimate aim of boosting future bus use.
Hampshire County Council Leader, Councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “The Plan sets aspirations for a high quality, efficient and dependable network of bus services across the county which will work well in more urban areas of the county where commercial services thrive. However, this is less easy to achieve in rural areas where we subsidise some bus services and where demand still has not recovered from the impact of the pandemic. With lower demand, the value for money we can get from supporting buses worsens and in some cases drops below what is viable. So, while we have set an ambitious plan, we want also to encourage those who don’t regularly use a bus to ‘get on board’ and help keep rural services running, particularly for those who can’t drive, including the young, more elderly and those on lower incomes.”
“Increasing bus use amongst Hampshire’s residents can also help to tackle climate change by taking cars off the road, as well as potentially benefitting Hampshire’s local economy and people’s standard of living – as an improved transport network would make it easier for young people - Hampshire’s future workforce, to access education, training and employment opportunities."
He added: “With the County Council’s financial resources under considerable strain, future Government funding, money from developers and investment by bus operators will be critical to the continued success of our shared bus travel ambitions – to link communities and improve connections to essential services.”
Hampshire’s BSIP was first developed in 2021 by Hampshire County Council, Stagecoach, First Bus and Go South Coast/Bluestar. This partnership, working together with neighbouring Local Transport Authorities (Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council) and local borough and district councils has already reaped major rewards such as:
Investment of £7.2million BSIP funding from the Department for Transport to extend existing bus services with potential for long-term growth and expansion. Among the 17 services benefitting, is the Bluestar 1 between Winchester and Southampton where the number of evening services has doubled, and buses are now running 24-hours a day on Friday and Saturday nights. Other examples include services between Basingstoke and Newbury which now benefit from a Sunday Service, as well as increased services throughout the day and evening on the Stagecoach 6 running in the Farnborough area.
Securing Government Transforming Cities Fund money which has led to several improvements to bus interchange facilities, as well as cycling and walking facilities. The most recent example is in Gosport where a brand new bus interchange facility has been built, with improved facilities and easier connections to ferry services to Portsmouth, as well as in and around the town centre to nearby towns and outlying areas.
Carbon emission free travel in the county was also boosted this year with the introduction of a new fleet of 62 electric buses serving Fareham, Gosport and parts of Portsmouth, thanks to an investment of £13million from the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) fund, and a further £15million commitment by the bus operator, First Bus.
Background information
Hampshire’s BSIP is founded from a strong track record of partnership working to bring about high quality bus services across the county – services such the Eclipse bus rapid transit service in Fareham and Gosport, the A3 Star service between Waterlooville and Portsmouth and the Stagecoach Gold route serving the Blackwater Valley between Aldershot, Farnborough and Camberley in Surrey with measures that enable congestion to be by-passed and passengers enjoying buses that are high quality and run seven days a week.