SOMERSET Council is considering a range of new proposals to improve bus services across the county under a major government funded initiative.
The council has already trialled initiatives such as evening bus services and capped fares in Taunton along with plans for transport hubs in the county and bus priority measures.
These measures came following an initial £12million in government funding for the Somerset Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) in 2022.
Just over £6 million of further funding for 2025/26 was announced by the government at the end of last year and the council is now considering how this should be spent.
Potential investment themes discussed with bus user groups and bus operators included:
- A new package of proposals for both Yeovil and Bridgwater, including evening bus services, feasibility studies for transport hubs in both towns, bus priority signal measures and other service improvements and trials.
- In Taunton evening services are to be reviewed with a view to continued funding for the best used routes.
- Maintaining the £1 park and ride fare in Taunton and supporting the development of Taunton’s Transport hub
- A review of current BSIP Plus funded services across the county. These were services that were no longer commercially viable. BSIP Plus was extra money provided by Government to save such services from complete withdrawal.
- Trialling other service improvements within the county and improving county-wide information and bus shelter infrastructure.
The current BSIP-funded £1.50 single fare for Taunton runs until March 31. There are no plans to continue this due to the cost and the fact that spending the money here will prohibit wider county initiatives.
The Government confirmed last month that a fare cap remains in place at just £3 for any single journey across Somerset until December 2025.
A final decision will be taken on any proposals in the spring.