Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) Support for Councils

The Conservative Government’s National Bus Strategy set out an ambitious vision to improve bus services in England outside London and encourage passengers back to bus, an ambition which was underpinned by £3billion of new funding.

To secure funding, Local Transport Authorities and bus operators were required to submit an ambitious Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) outlining improvements that would support delivery of a fully integrated bus service with simple, multi-modal tickets, more bus priority measures, with better turn-up-and-go frequencies that keep running into the evenings and at weekends.

“Luton Borough Council are pleased to confirm that working with SYSTRA we have secured £19.1m funding from the Department for Transport towards our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). This award is a very welcome start to the new financial year and shows how the collaborative working between our team and that of SYSTRA has secured a very significant level of funding that will give passengers in Luton a better experience when using the public transport network.”

Steve Lain, Highways & Transport Product Service Manager at Luton Borough Council

During the timeline of the Conservative policy, SYSTRA worked with several Local Transport Authorities including Derbyshire CC, Norfolk CC, Luton BC and North East Lincolnshire Council to assist in the production of bold and ambitious BSIPs with measures that will help to increase passenger numbers, improve bus punctuality, reliability and journey times, and increase levels of customer satisfaction.

When producing the successful BSIPs SYSTRA supported clients in analysing the current bus offer in their area, seeking customer and stakeholder views, setting challenging but realistic targets and proposing a range of measures that will help to deliver a step change in local bus service provision.

Our team of bus experts at SYSTRA brought with them a blend of hands-on experience gained from years of working for bus operating companies and local authorities, which enables them to understand the key challenges and propose measures designed to optimise the impact on service provision and commercial viability.

Our team of bus experts supported Derbyshire County Council, Norfolk County Council, Luton Borough Council and North East Lincolnshire Council all submit successful bids, with a combined funding of over £120m.