National Bus Strategy: Bus Back Better

Overview

A new National Bus Strategy (Bus Back Better) was published by the Government on 15 March 2021. The Strategy requires all Local Transport Authorities to consider their role in encouraging more people to travel by bus as we recover from the Covid 19 pandemic and sets out aspirations for the future of bus service improvements.

The Government’s ambitions in the National Bus Strategy support the Council’s own intentions within the emerging new Surrey Transport Plan, (Surrey Transport Plan: Commonplace) which will seek to tackle air quality issues, reducing congestion to encourage modal shift and improve the local environment for residents.

The National Bus Strategy requires that Local Transport Authorities prepare Bus Service Improvement Plans by October 2021 which will subsequently be used to formulate Enhanced Partnership Schemes with Surrey Bus Operators.

Bus Service Improvement Plans will set out the future bus network, the expected local measures required to achieve our ambitious initiatives and their expected impact. They will fulfil the ambition to provide more services where required and higher quality services for our residents and encouraging greater bus use as part of the county’s initiative ‘building back better’ more sustainably. They will also act as a framework to unlock the opportunity for future bidding to secure part of the £3bn funding allocated to Bus Back Better by the Government.

We will be responding ambitiously and positively to the Government to achieve significant improvements to bus services for our residents.  To help us succeed in our ambitious goals we are asking residents to engage with us, so we can understand the things that are most important to them. 

Why your views matter

This survey is being run to obtain residents’ initial views about what is important to them regarding bus services in Surrey, and to understand their current bus use habits.

In order to make sure we take decisions more closely matched to the needs and wishes of residents, it is important that we get the views of as many people in Surrey as possible. Therefore, please share the link to this survey with other people in your community through social media or other means: https://www.surreysays.co.uk/environment-and-infrastructure/national-bus-strategy 

All responses are strictly confidential, and your data will be used in-line with our data protection policy which can be found here.

Accessibility Statement

This survey is compatible with speech recognition software and screen readers. Screen Reader Accessible and Large Print versions of this survey can be found at the bottom of this page under ‘related documents’.

For those with a hearing impairment, please feel free to use our alternative SMS mobile number on: 07527 182861

If you require this survey in an alternative format, please contact Nationalbus.strategy@surreycc.gov.uk and we will do our best to assist you. For more information on the accessibility of Surrey Says, please see the Delib Accessibility Policy.