Government funds of £19m awarded to help people get back on the buses in Luton

Luton Council has been awarded £19.1million government funding for measures to encourage more people to use buses.

The council was successful in receiving an allocation for its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) following a bid from the government’s National Bus Strategy fund.

The funding has now been confirmed by the Department for Transport and will support measures over the next two years to March 2025, and will include:

> lower fares for children and families and those who use a concessionary pass

> development of improved bus priority lanes

> more Red Routes to help priority routes

> more enforcement cameras to help parking services

> development of a Park & Ride facility at Butterfield

> ticketing reforms including cross boundary arrangements.

> extension of time to provide pre-9.30am travel for those using concessionary bus passes.

> better information systems

> later bus services

> working with neighbouring Local Authorities on a Passenger Charter

> working with Bus Operators to ensure better services across Luton for all.

Councillor Fatima Begum, portfolio holder for sustainable development and highways at Luton Council, said: “Under half of all councils that applied received the funding so we are delighted to have got the news from Government that we are one of them.

“We know residents will be happy that we can now start to go ahead with these projects which will support the whole of Luton for better transportation and help make bus travel more attractive to people. Using sustainable transport rather than hopping in a car, especially for shorter journeys, really helps towards our net zero aims.”

The aims of the government’s National Bus Strategy are to see more people using bus services through revisions to fares, routes, hours of operation and availability of information, and to see improvements to reliability, punctuality, and journey speeds.

> The benefits of travelling by bus include not having to worry about finding a parking space; it reduces congestion in towns and cities; using public transport is cheaper than owning and operating a car, and it means no more sitting in traffic jams in rush hour thanks to bus lanes and other bus priority measures.