Somerset Council is considering supporting a range of new and existing proposals aimed at improving bus provision in the county – including better integration with rail services – under the latest government funded initiative.
The government has awarded around £11.4m in capital spending over 4 years, up to 2029-30 and a 3-year revenue settlement of about £13.1m up 2028-29 under the Bus Service Fund which replaces previous Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) allocations from the government. The Council is now considering how this money should be spent.
The focus will be on spending over the coming year – 2026-27 – with an outline plan for the remaining years.
Potential investment themes discussed with bus user groups and bus operators at the Council’s Bus Advisory Board included:
- Continued support for schemes funded through previous rounds of BSIP funding
- Better integration between bus and rail through service improvements and hubs
- The wider roll out of Digital Demand Responsive Transport (DDRT)
- Improving services to key destinations such as employment and health services
- Progress the design, engagement and consultation on transport hubs
- Preparation for the rollout of the government’s ‘Project Coral’ providing a back-office system for multi-operator tickets
- Options for Real Time Information at key interchanges
Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services, Councillor Richard Wilkins, said:
It’s great news that we have had confirmation of the Bus Service Fund settlement which forms part of the wider Integrated Transport Fund.
Thanks to previous funding awards we have trialled initiatives such as evening and Sunday bus services and DDRT along with plans for transport hubs in the county and bus priority measures following an initial £12 million in funding from government for the Somerset BSIP in 2022.
We are now talking to stakeholders through the Bus Advisory Board, Bus User and Stakeholder Group and Somerset Bus Partnership and are working through their proposals.
We are proposing to maintain the current schemes funded through the previous BSIP allocation from government and hope to introduce some more improvements that will benefit bus services and bus passengers.
Measures and costings are yet to be decided and a final decision on any proposals will be taken at Somerset Council’s Executive Committee at the beginning of March.
