Norfolk has been successful in securing £49.55m of funding from the Department for Transport to make the county’s bus services and facilities better. In October 2021 the County Council published Norfolk’s Bus Service Improvement Plan which outlines the ambitions for the next five years. In April this year the DfT notified us of an indicative allocation of funding for three years. The County Council has since worked alongside bus operators to shape details of what the money would be spent on should we secure it. To help shape our plans in May we launched a consultation asking for residents’ views on bus services in Norfolk. More than 1500 people took part in the consultation which helped us 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 25s, bus priority schemes, more real time information, improved waiting areas and integrated travel hubs and new and more frequent services. Cllr Martin Wilby, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Transport, said: “I’m thrilled to hear that we have now secured this funding for Norfolk and look forward to seeing some of our plans being delivered to create an improved bus service for both residents and visitors of the county. Since being notified of the indicative allocation from the DfT our team has worked hard alongside bus operators to provide all the information and create the robust plan that was required to secure the funding.” Linda McCord, Independent Chair of the Norfolk Enhanced Partnership and who works for the passenger representative body Transport Focus said; “Securing this money is a major boost for travel across Norfolk. Improving services across the county is vital in improving rural mobility and is key to reducing the number of vehicles on our roads. 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.”
