Black Country bus services to be improved with cash injection
Black Country bus passengers will be seeing more more frequent services, more safety officers and better live arrival information as part of a £16.5m funding package.
The latest phase of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding has been allocated to Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) by the Department for Transport (DfT) to help grow passenger numbers.
The BSIP programme has been designed by TfWM, which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to make buses a more affordable, reliable, and greener alternative to private cars and support the region’s #WM2041 carbon reduction targets while reducing traffic congestion in our towns and cities.
The latest funding builds on an earlier £88m award to the region in 2022 which has partly been used to support the bus network as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of rising fuel costs.
Regional transport bosses have now agreed a programme of investment for the new BSIP funding at the WMCA Board meeting today (Friday, 15th March).
Proposals include using the majority of the funding to have more buses during longer hours on key routes, employ six more transport safety officers and better passenger information – both traditional printed timetables at bus stops and real time arrival information
