Buses to get Wi-Fi in £1.4m transport boost
Wi-Fi could be introduced on buses travelling between Wolverhampton and the i54 as part of a new £1.4million scheme to improve a key city transport route.
The move is among a host of improvements to the A449 Stafford Road announced today by transport authority Centro.
The project will be rolled out in spring next year and includes improvements to park and ride facilities, bus shelter revamps and more CCTV.
Around £1m of the total budget has been provided by the Department for Transport, with Centro and Wolverhampton City Council making up the rest.
Bosses said the scheme complimented other employment and housing developments taking place along Stafford Road, such as at the redevelopment of the Goodyear site, as well as various regeneration projects in the city centre.
Wolverhampton City Council's regeneration chief, Councillor Peter Bilson, said he was delighted to have been awarded the funding.
He said: "Improving the ease of movement for people on this major route is fundamental to the regeneration of this high profile area of the city and will support the anticipated future growth in business, housing and traffic."
The i54 business park, a joint project between Wolverhampton City Council, Staffordshire County Council and South Staffordshire Council, has already attracted a number of global companies including Aerospace firm MOOG, food testing specialists Eurofins and Jaguar Land Rover.
JLR's new £500m engine manufacturing centre is currently under construction bringing with it almost 1,400 new jobs by 2017 and thousands more in the supply chain. International Security Printers is the latest firm to invest in the site and recently started work on a five-acre development.
