Published Wednesday 27 October 2021 at 15:07
Blackburn with Darwen Council, in partnership with Lancashire County Council, have jointly developed a Bus Service Improvement Plan for their areas. The bus service providers have been involved and informed throughout this process and are supportive of the proposed Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
The plan is the first step to delivering on the National Bus Strategy and will be key to delivering on bus priority and improvement measures that will, over time, make public transport the mode of choice in Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire.
Although the Covid-19 crisis has led to many challenges for public transport we now have to look to the future and what we can do locally to “Bus Back Better” and deliver our bus service in new ways and in partnership with all our operators. The first aim is to grow the market back to pre-pandemic levels of patronage and deliver a more sustainable network, which will lead to further investment.
Working with all bus operators and Lancashire County Council, BwD Council aims to support the Government’s Bus Back Better initiative, working together for the borough and the wider region.
This plan will deliver a multi-million pound investment in the Lancashire region’s public transport system. This BSIP will deliver a strong Inter Urban Bus Network, using Superbus principles, which will provide bus priority measures to help speed up services. Will improve the customers waiting environment, because this is often the first point of contact with the network, and ensure it is accessible for all. Information will be improved and the plan will move towards providing more real time information across the county.
As well as the Inter Urban Network the plan intends to improve many other local bus services including evening and Sunday service enhancements and increased frequencies where appropriate. The plan will build on the tendered network that serves many of our rural towns and villages, and will support the investment in low and zero emission vehicles with operators.
To ensure buses become easier and more attractive to use the plan will develop multi operator and other ticketing initiatives, provide more comprehensive information and ensure it is available in multiple formats and provide data than can be developed in new ways to help users.
The plan will investigate new ways of delivering bus services that meet local demands and markets not already served. Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) is just one option to consider for those hard to reach areas. The council will continue to support our Community Transport services for those less able to access bus services and we will also link with active travel for those who wish to walk and cycle as part of their overall journey.
The key theme running through or plan will be people. The plan must ensure that the services being provided meet local needs therefore we will continue to engage with user groups, and will establish a Lancashire Passengers Charter.
This BSIP will be updated annually to enable the council to remain flexible to changes and demands but with the right investment to deliver these changes will go towards making Lancashire the best place to live, work, visit and prosper.
