ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø

Local Transport Plan (LTP4)

Public and shared transport improvements in our local transport plan

Contents

Winning back your trust in public transport

Although traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels by February 2021, public transport use has only partly recovered since the first lockdown. suggests that activity in and around bus and rail stations was still around 45% less than pre COVID-19 levels in April 2021. This is due to social distancing requirements and health concerns.

The government's National Bus Strategy for England sets out ambitious plans to rapidly increase bus use and recover from the losses caused by the pandemic. In response to the national strategy, we are currently working with bus operators and other partners to produce a . This sets out our high-level vision for ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's bus network, including targets to improve journey times and reliability, and our plans to deliver them. Delivery will rely on extending and formalising our strong existing partnerships with bus operators.

What we aim to do and when

  • Our short-term aim, by 2025, is to rebuild trust in public transport through safety, reliability and affordability.
  • Our medium-term aim, by 2030, is to shift behaviour away from car use to public transport and active travel choices.
  • Our longer-term aim, post 2030, is to strengthen travel behaviours to achieve net-zero emissions in ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø.

How we will achieve these targets is set out in the next section, What is changing.

What is changing?

Our plans for the bus network are closely aligned with the government's goals for the National Bus Strategy (NBS), therefore our BSIP will provide the bus element of our Public and shared transport policy area in the finalised version of our Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4).

The rail component of this Policy Area already reflects our new Rail Strategy for ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, published in March 2021, which has similar objectives to the LTP4 and outlines our role in promoting changes in rail provision, setting out how rail can contribute to a greener future, growing a sustainable economy, empowering communities, and tackling health inequality in ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø.

Once the post pandemic position becomes clear, we will continue to work with our partners to re-establish demand and deliver high quality public and shared transport provision in ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø.

We will do this by exploring and developing the most appropriate options in relation to:

Improving, connecting and simplifying services

A simple and integrated public transport network

We want our public transport network to be easy to understand and to directly and efficiently serve journeys that people want to make.

The NBS highlights the importance to passengers of a simple and integrated public transport network. As we work with our partners to develop the BSIP, we will review the options available to improve and simplify our bus services. We anticipate that our focus for improving service frequency will be on high demand routes. This will include routes serving town centres, where increased passenger numbers bring a range of benefits, including supporting sustainable growth, social inclusion and improved local environment and air quality.

Improving connections

We will also identify practical opportunities to improve connections between services, through better timetable alignment for both bus and rail services, as well as improved physical connections which is discussed further under Mobility Hubs below. When considering opportunities for new services, we will review the options to expand park and ride, building on the success of our Guildford services. This would work in conjunction with a decrease in parking spaces, particularly in town centres, (this is discussed under Demand Management for Cars) but will need to be carefully planned to avoid the risk of increasing traffic.

Funding

We will pursue available sources of funding to improve the services on the bus network, including the funding associated with the NBS, the Levelling Up Fund, funding from Local Enterprise Partnerships and from developers. Funding from developers will be obtained by introducing requirements for new developments to be served by good quality bus services that integrate with the existing public transport network. This will require co-ordination with district and borough councils, as planning authorities, and developers.

Rail improvements

As outlined in our Rail Strategy, we will also continue to work with partners to make the case for rail improvements such as additional services on the North Downs and Tonbridge lines. We will also support improvements to rail capacity and frequency, particularly where it can support sustainable housing and