Transport User Voice – West Midlands Bus Alliance is renewed

25 October 2017

West Midlands mayor Andy Street and Transport Focus have signed on the dotted line to help deliver more reliable bus journeys for passengers.

Members of the local bus alliance have signed a new agreement to encourage further high standards of service and reliability for the region’s buses.

Chaired by Linda McCord of Transport Focus, other members include West Midlands mayor Andy Street and bus operators including National Express West Midlands, Stagecoach Midlands and Central Buses.

The agreement, signed at the Coach & Bus UK Show, ensures continuing improvements to the bus network across the region up to 2020.

The aims set out under the new agreement include:

• make bus travel more attractive for young people
• make bus journeys better value
• tackle congestion and speed up bus journeys
• make it easier to buy a ticket
• make it easier to catch a bus
• shape the bus network to improve economic growth and
• make it more pleasant to travel by bus
• improve bus emission standards.

In the past two years the alliance has invested £7.3million in highways schemes to improve bus journey times. The alliance has helped drive up the standard of bus travel with 570 brand new and refurbished buses on the region’s roads. £1million of funding is now available to help operators to provide cleaner vehicles and £550,000 has been invested to modernise the bus station.

Transport Focus will be making sure that bus passengers’ top priorities continue to shape future plans in the West Midlands.

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