Working together for better bus travel

Working together for better bus travel

Two surveys to examine improvements in bus routes between urban areas were agreed at the October meeting of the Milton Keynes South Midlands (mksm) Strategic Transport Board.

The first survey will look at identifying quick wins through tackling issues such as congestion, passenger information and marketing whilst the second will look at longer term improvements including smart ticketing, bus station standards and highway improvements.

The Board considered the Inter-urban Bus Network between Aylesbury, Bedford, Corby, Luton, Kettering, Milton Keynes Northampton and Wellingborough as well as surrounding centres. The surveys will look at improvements on a number of pilot routes and then use this information to inform developments across the network. The results are likely to be known in the first half of 2010.

Councillor Roy Davis of Luton Borough Council, a member of the Strategic Transport Board, welcomed the studies saying ‘they will look not only at real alternatives to car travel from the centre of one town to that of another but also allow us to coordinate with local initiatives such as the Luton Dunstable Busway.'

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Notes to Editors:

• 1. Milton Keynes South Midlands (mksm) is delivering over 225,000 houses and over 200,000 jobs between 2001 and 2021 and is the UK's largest growth area.
• 2. mksm is one of the four major Growth Areas in England designated by government. It spans three regions and covers the whole of Northamptonshire, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford, Luton, Milton Keynes, and Aylesbury Vale District in Buckinghamshire.
• 3. The mksm Strategic Transport Board was set up in June 2007. Membership consists of the Leader or portfolio holder for each Transport Authority (the county and unitary authorities) in the sub-region and Board level representation from the three Regional Development Agencies, Homes and Communities Agency, and the Local Delivery Vehicles. It also includes senior officials from the three Regional Assemblies, the Highways Agency, Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the three Government Offices.
• 4. The remit of the Board is to strengthen sub-regional working and capacity, including identifying and championing strategic transport priorities to support growth as well as performance and risk managing strategic delivery of priorities.
• 5. East West Rail Consortium is a group of local authorities and government agencies with an objective of securing a new rail route from East Anglia to Oxford via the Milton Keynes South Midlands growth area. More details of the project can be found online at www.eastwestrail.org.uk. The £2 million for the current development and design work has come from the Growth Area Fund from Oxford, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Bedford with support from the CLG.

For further information visit www.mksm.org.uk or contact:

Hilary Chipping, mksm Director, Tel: 01604 236541,  hchipping@northamptonshire.gov.uk or Keith Murdoch, Assistant Director (Collective Working Agreement), mksm on 07866 466886 or keith.murdoch@leicester.gov.uk.