Hull City Council’s Cabinet has today (Monday 24 March) approved a funding allocation of over £7.6million from the Department for Transport (DfT) that will be used to deliver a number of proposals set out in its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) for 2025/2026.
The BSIP sets out how the council, working alongside local bus operators, Stagecoach East Midlands and East Yorkshire Buses, through the Hull Bus Alliance, will improve bus frequency, pilot new routes and services and introduce fare discounts that will help grow bus passenger numbers, address traffic congestion and improve air quality in the city.
The new BSIP, which will be delivered between April 2025 and March 2026, aims to build on the alliance’s work over the past year, which has seen several successes, including the rollout of increased and more reliable services across the city by both operators as well as greater awareness of money-saving products, such as the Hull Card, the Hull Group Card and the KAT Card, which saw a 28% take up in 2024/2025 compared to the year before.
The city was also confirmed as one of the top 10 places in the country for growth in bus patronage, according to figures in the Department for Transport’s annual bus statistics report for 2023/2024.
The decision by Cabinet means that the funding, successfully secured from the Government, will be used to deliver:
- More service enhancements – increasing service frequency on all key routes, including Anlaby Road, Holderness Road, Beverley Road and Spring Bank West to a minimum of every 10 minutes throughout the day, from April 2025 to March 2026.
- Connective services – continue service links to Castle Hill, Beverley Town Centre and Chamberlain Road.
- Marfleet Community Bus – continue the service with East Hull Community Transport, providing a community link three-days-a-week.
- New services – including a new link to Clough Road, a loop of Kingswood and a new service to the North Yorkshire Moors.
- Discounted fares – with a focus on care leavers, under 19s, student travel and food bank travel.
- Improved customer information – promotion of joint corridor travel, better bus stop information and an upgrade, city-wide, to replace existing real time travel displays with new technology.
- Priory Park and Ride – continue to support peak hour park and ride journeys, Monday-Friday, and improve facilities at the site, including the installation of new cycle parking to support multi-modal travel.
- Bus priority and bus gates – identify, design and complete schemes across the city’s key corridors to improve bus service punctuality.
- Moving traffic violations – initial development of the cameras and enforcement scheme for the yellow box junction between Brook Street and Hull Paragon Interchange.
- Bus shelters and bus stop accessibility – including thepurchase of up to 30 new bus shelters as well as improving the accessibility of bus stops, city-wide, including new seating, signs, lines, raised bus borders and TROs.
- Pinch points – investment in carriageway improvements in locations identified as pinch points on the bus network.
- Community bus – purchase of a zero-emission vehicle, in partnership with East Riding of Yorkshire Council, that can be used for public consultation.
Kerry Ryan, head of transport and traffic management at Hull City Council, said: “The BSIP has been developed following extensive consultation with passengers, stakeholders and the public to ensure we, as a council, and our local operators are delivering the type of bus services that our residents, visitors and communities need and expect.
“We have seen a number of improvements over the past year, and we are now aiming to build on these over the next 12 months to provide even more transport options and enable people to make more sustainable travel choices.”
Ben Gilligan, managing director of East Yorkshire Buses, said: “We have been pleased with the progress in the last 12 months as we have worked to increase frequencies across the city. These have been well received by customers who have been given more options to make a sustainable transport choice and access the city and surrounding areas.”
Matt Cranwell, managing director at Stagecoach East Midlands, added: “The BSIP funding has been, and will continue to be, crucial to the continuing development of transport options for the people of Hull.
“We’re delighted to be part of the Hull Bus Alliance and are committed to delivering BSIP-funded schemes to continually improve and build on the successes of these services.”
