A partnership between Local Authorities, Bus Operators within Tyne and Wear, and Nexus secured funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) under the ‘Better Bus Area’ initiative. The funding secured was £4.972m from the DfT, and this was added to local contributions making a total investment pot of £6.651m for improvements to bus services across Tyne and Wear. The funding will provide highways improvements to key routes with objectives of improving the local economy by making it easier to travel to jobs on less congested roads, causing buses to run more freely and having a positive influence on climate change.
The improvements will provide upgraded junctions at congestion hotspots on 17 key routes into towns and cities to provide buses with more reliable journey times, benefitting 35 million bus journeys a year (a quarter of all trips made in Tyne and Wear) and reduce carbon emissions by 46,360 tonnes per year.
Better Bus Benefits
- 17 bus routes with intelligent traffic signals that give buses priority at busy junctions
- 70 bus shelters newly-equipped with CCTV
- Free wifi on routes across Tyne and Wear
- New bus link for Borough Road in Sunderland
- Bus lane extension and junction improvements on the A184 in Wardley
- Personalised QR codes giving bus journey information
- Brand new shelters with CCTV at Heworth Interchange
- CCTV throughout Park Lane Interchange
- Bus stop improvements including raised kerbs and clearways
- Targeted price promotions with bus operators