£4m to be spent on Blackpool bus service improvements

More than £4m of funding is set to be spent on improving bus services in Blackpool including upgrading shelters.

The cash includes £2.5m of capital funding, and almost £1.7m of revenue funding allocated to the council by the Department for Transport.

It will go towards implementing Blackpool’s Bus Service Improvement Plan for 2025/26 which sets out a number of priorities. These include:

Bus service enhancements

Bus lanes on Talbot Road

Replacing worn out bus shelters

A deep clean and repair programme of bus shelters

Rolling out more Real Time Information (RTI) screens at town centre bus shelters, with a possibility of extending these to other locations as more funding becomes available

The Bus Grant Delivery Plan including the proposals is due to go before a meeting of the council’s executive committee on Monday April 28 for approval.

Funding from the Department for Transport comes from a national pot of money totalling £955m which was handed out last December to support bus services across England.

A report setting out the recommendations says the funding is expected to be used “for the purposes of improving bus services and infrastructure” in a way  “which delivers tangible improvements for passengers.”

Around £1m will be used to support services in order to ensure they are sustainable and meet the needs of people living and working in Blackpool, while £1.6m has been allocated to creating bus lanes.

These would operate westbound (Mather Street to Devonshire Road) and eastbound (Cecil Street to Devonshire Road).

It is also proposed to hold a full audit of all bus shelters “to evaluate and categorise each shelter and stop, enabling an annual maintenance, replacement, deep clean and refurbishment programme”.

The council, which owns Blackpool Transport, also hopes the improvements will encourage more use of public transport which will help it meet its environmental targets.

The report adds: “Greater bus patronage in Blackpool will contribute to improved local air quality and to climate change combating objectives.

These objectives are in line with the council’s own environmental commitments.”

Efficient public transport is also needed as more jobs are brought to the town centre including at the DWP hub on Cookson Street and the proposed Multiversity education campus.