Southend Bus Service Improvement Plan
Introduction
We want to make bus travel the first travel choice for everyone in Southend, and by doing so making our communities greener and thriving. We will do this by:
- making buses more reliable
- making buses quicker
- improving the quality of the bus stops and the buses
- improve the quality and accessibility of bus information
Our refreshed Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) sets out our plans for improving buses and how we will work with local bus companies to make those improvements.
Through various funding programmes, we plan to transform the bus network through six major strands of work. This is with the support of:
- our recently-established Enhanced Partnership
- The Department for Transport
Improving all bus services and all stops between Southend City Centre and Hadleigh, Eastwood, Southend Airport, and Shoeburyness
We will:
- give buses priority at traffic lights
- improve bus stops along key roads
- improve each corridor for buses
- create a series of Mobility Hubs where you can connect between buses, trains, cycle facilities, and car clubs at Leigh-on-Sea, Southend Hospital, Shoeburyness Town Centre, Thorpe Bay, and Southend Airport
Improving existing bus services
Working with the bus companies to improve existing bus services, we are planning to:
- provide a minimum frequency of service along the key bus corridors of every 10 minutes during the daytime
- improve bus service frequencies in the evenings and weekends
- work with the bus operators to better co-ordinate timetables
Improving cross-city connectivity
We will provide a Mobility Hub in the City Centre. Also, we will look to introduce new bus services between:
- Southend Airport and Business Park, Eastwood, and Leigh-on Sea
- Southend Airport, Thorpe Bay, and Shoeburyness
Improving ticketing and fares
We will do this by upgrading the Octopus ticket, so that it:
- is available through bus operators' apps and therefore on smartphones
- can be purchased through contactless payment
At a later stage we will also upgrade Octopus so it can be used on local trains.
We also plan to trial a potential flat single fare across the city on summer weekends.
Better marketing and promotion of local buses
We will better promote the local bus services, working with the local bus companies and Essex County Council to create a joint marketing and communications plan.
Improving existing vehicles
We will do this by:
- adding new features to existing engines so that they emit less greenhouse gases
- requiring that all new buses are low emission vehicles
- all new buses have audio-visual announcements on board
Our targets
We will judge how successful we are by whether we meet these targets:
- 25% reduction in journey times (end-to-end) on the 4 main bus corridors
- 15% reduction in the number of buses arriving late at their final destination on the 4 main bus corridors
- 95% of Southend residents will be within 400m walking distance of a bus service running every 15 minutes
- an extra 500,000 trips on local buses every year above the 2019/20 passenger levels
- 75% of local people satisfied with local bus services by 2027
- 65% of trips on buses are by non-concessionary pass holders
How we will let you know how we are doing
We will put together a progress report according to the timetable required by the Department for Transport
If you have any ideas to improve local bus services visit our Your Say Southend page to have your say.
To view the full BSIP pdf, please visit our democracy site.