Millions to improve West Sussex’s bus services but ‘funds don’t match government rhetoric’

Bus services in West Sussex will be given a multi-million pound boost thanks to a government grant to the county council.
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While every penny counts, the money provided to help deliver the county’s Bus Improvement Plan was nowhere near the £138m bid submitted by the council.

A spokesman said: “We have been awarded indicative funding of up to £17.4m from the Department for Transport and we now need to understand how this can best be spent on delivering key elements of the West Sussex Bus Services Improvement Plan.

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“Our transport team will continue to work with bus operators to develop the plan, identifying achievable ways to improve local services and encourage more people to use them.”

West Sussex is set to benefit from £17.4m of government funding to improve its bus servicesWest Sussex is set to benefit from £17.4m of government funding to improve its bus services
West Sussex is set to benefit from £17.4m of government funding to improve its bus services

The improvement plan was submitted to the Department for Transport in October.

It detailed some 85 projects for 2022-2025 and beyond.

They included:

• Contributing to a new bus station in Crawley, in partnership with the borough council, Metrobus and the Local Enterprise Partnership

• More and improved information screens in key areas such as Chichester, Burgess Hill, Crawley, Worthing and East Grinstead; and

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• Advanced signal control systems at 35 junctions that will give buses priority on approach.

Henry Smith, Conservative MP for Crawley, welcomed the funding for West Sussex, describing how for decades ‘too many communities have been let down by poor bus infrastructure’. He added: “This will mean that local passengers will get a better deal, with local transport networks they can truly rely on.”

But the Green Party have reacted with ‘dismay’ the amount for West Sussex at £17.4m, compared to £41.4m for East Sussex, £27.9m for Brighton & Hove and £48.3m for Portsmouth.

In a joint statement, county councillor for Chichester South, Sarah Sharp, and Arun district councillor, Isabel Thurston, said: “This £17.4m falls woefully short of what is needed and will leave WSCC with tough decisions to make on which improvements it can deliver, all while people are crying out for better transport options. Many of our residents living in rural communities cannot rely on buses to get into nearby towns and villages to do their shopping, to access education or get to work because bus travel remains so expensive and unreliable.

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“In Boris Johnson’s own words: ‘As services get slower, they become more expensive to run and less attractive to passengers. It is a classic vicious circle, which we intend to break’.

“Once again, the funds simply do not match the rhetoric. Meanwhile, only the well-off can afford to live in rural areas, road building plans continue apace and we fail to snatch the opportunity in front of us.

“Enhanced bus services, along with other public transport and active travel, offer us a unique opportunity to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and address the cost-of-living crisis. This funding is pitifully inadequate in the scheme of what is required.”

West Sussex was one of 31 counties, city regions and unitary authorities to be chosen for funding to level up their local bus services.

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A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “The successful areas have been chosen because of their ambition to repeat the success achieved in London – which drove up bus usage and made the bus a natural choice for everyone, not just those without cars.” 

Among the aims of the Bus Services Improvement Plan are:

• The need to get bus usage back to pre-pandemic levels

• To make the services more reliable and the journey time shorter

• To simplify fares and ticketing

• To accelerate the introduction of zero-emission buses.

Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, added: “Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country – but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal.

“The investment we’re making today to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.”