Improved Bus Services across Derbyshire

Please see the following information from Derbyshire County Council regarding bus service improvements across the county.

This is an issue already on the agenda for Aston on Trent Parish Council and we would like to ask you to complete the questionnaire in the link below, ahead of the Parish Council looking at some more targeted consultation specific to Aston on Trent and an improved bus service.

Derbyshire BSIP Refresh 2024 Questionaire (office.com)

The National Bus Strategy was published in March 2021 and allowed councils across England and Wales to bid for financial support for local bus services and infrastructure. Derbyshire County Council was successful in its bid and was awarded £47 million, spread over 3 years, for projects and services that were identified in Derbyshire's initial BSIP (adopted in October 2021). This programme is now being delivered with bus operator partners, through the Enhanced Partnership, with significant enhancements to services, bus stops, bus priority measures, tickets and marketing.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has requested that councils update and "refresh" their initial 2021 BSIPs and has set a deadline of 12 June 2024 for submission.

The BSIP Refresh will include details of a review of bus provision in Derbyshire as well as the progress to date on delivery of the original BSIP. There will be a strong focus on ambitious improvements for the four financial years from 2025-26 to 2028-29. This will also enable us to unlock the additional potential £4.5 million of extra BSIP funding that was allocated earlier this year for further service improvements and works.

Although the BSIP refresh is not formally a bid document, DfT has requested details of Derbyshire's proposals for 2025/26 which need to include some indication of priorities and sufficient detail to assess the total funding required from 2028/29. The guidance also calls for a more aspirational 10-year programme, recognising the uncertainties of bus travel after the pandemic effects and addressing longer-term needs.

As part of this refresh work, we're running a specific BSIP survey to get views on the improvements so far as well as future areas of work. The survey link, open until the 18 March 2024, is below: