The grant scheme is designed to help parish councils that own and maintain bus shelters to upgrade their facilities, Improvements could include upgraded structures alongside enhanced features such as new seating and lighting.
Councillor Steve Forster, Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Passenger Transport, said: “Improving bus shelters may seem like a relatively small change, but it can make a real difference to how people feel about choosing the bus. Clean, modern and welcoming shelters help make public transport a more attractive choice for everyday journeys.
“Through Hampshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, we are investing in measures that encourage more people to travel by bus. This includes faster, more frequent and reliable services, alongside the infrastructure that supports them.
“Our investment is already delivering results, with a steady increase in people travelling by bus. By working closely with operators and partners, we are making good progress towards our ambitious target of doubling passenger journeys by 2035. This will support our local economy, enhance access to jobs and essential services, help reduce congestion, and improve air quality.”
Parish councils were able to apply for a grant to carry out essential upgrades or replace ageing infrastructure. The grants will support a mix of refurbishments and new installations at existing sites.
Over this financial year, Hampshire County Council has an allocation of £14,877,662 of Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) from the UK Government to deliver the priorities set out in Hampshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). This funding supports a wide range of measures, including improvements to bus stops, stations and interchanges; real-time passenger information; bus priority schemes; zero-emission bus depot charging infrastructure; community-led transport grants; fare initiatives; and rural bus shelter funding for town and parish councils.
For 2024/25, there were 26.6 million journeys a year made by bus in Hampshire – an increase of 1.7 million journeys from 2023/24 levels.