Derbyshire County Council has been awarded £47 million to improve bus services over the next two-and-a-half years. 

The funding, given to help deliver a Bus Service Improvement Plan across the county, will help pay for: 

• More frequent buses and extended hours for vital services 
• Improved bus punctuality and reliability 
• Better value bus fares, especially for young people and those looking for work 
• Expansion of the ‘tap on and tap off’ system for paying for tickets 
• New transport hubs with Real Time Information to help connect bus services to other bus and train services 
• More demand responsive services for rural and semi-rural areas 
• A new website and app which will cover all services to make planning a journey much easier 

DCC’s Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, said: “To have the money finally confirmed is great news for everyone in the county. 

“Bus services will become so much more attractive to more people and will mean less traffic on our roads. This will make a positive contribution to our approach to tacking climate change. 

“We will build on the positive work to date and continue to work in partnership with all the bus companies on a wide range of projects to improve bus travel.” 

Last year the Government published a National Bus Strategy which set out a vision for future improvements and how bus services can recover from the pandemic. 

Council and bus companies had to work together to create a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). 

A consultation with bus operators, district and borough councils, bus passenger groups, disability groups and other special interest organisations was held last year. 

A partnership board has been set up to deliver the actions in the BSIP. It is chaired by Professor Margaret Bell, with Jeff Counsell, Managing Director of trentbarton the vice chair. 

Professor Bell said: “This funding is the outcome of a lot of hard work and commitment of council officers and public transport operators who will continue to work together to make public transport a realistic alternative to the use of private cars in the future delivering substantial benefits to health.” 

Jeff Counsell added: “The allocation of this funding just goes to show what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together for a common cause.”  

It is expected that work will start on delivering these improvements from October 2022. 

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