Hull City Council’s Cabinet has today (Monday 27 April) approved how it will spend the city’s Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) for 2026/27, which will see Government funding of over £7.8million, allocated from the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA), spent on a variety of enhancements to make bus travel in the city more convenient and more reliable.
The LABG sets out how the council, working alongside local bus operators, Stagecoach East Midlands and East Yorkshire Buses, through the Hull Bus Alliance, will improve public transport facilities and highway infrastructure as well as increasing service frequency on key routes and the delivery of targeted initiatives, with the aim of growing passenger numbers and helping to make the city greener and better connected.
The new LABG will be delivered between April 2026 and March 2027 and aims to build on the alliance’s work over the past year.
The decision by Cabinet means that the funding will be used to deliver:
- Bus Shelter Investment – provide additional shelters for bus users to make journeys more comfortable, safe and appealing.
- Real-time Information Displays – installation of new, digital signage to provide up-to-date bus information citywide, improving accuracy of information to customers and provide greater confidence and reduce uncertainty for those using public transport.
- Additional Bus Services – reduce passenger waiting times and promote bus usage by increasing the frequency of services to every 10 minutes on key routes.
- Marfleet Community Bus – continue working with local charity, Hull Community Transport, to maintain the Marfleet Community Bus that provides a community link three-days-per-week.
- Moorsbus (M1) – to continue part-funding, alongside East Riding of Yorkshire Council, a Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday service from Hull to the North York Moors, form 3 May through to Monday 28 September.
- Freedom Pass – to continue funding, alongside East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Young Persons Freedom Pass to provide care leavers, under the age of 25, with free travel with both operators in Hull and the East Riding.
- Moving Traffic Violation (MTV) – to continue developing MTV camera and enforcement schemes for yellow box junctions and bus lane camera enforcement across the city to support bus accessibility and improve punctuality.
Kerry Ryan, head of transport and traffic management at Hull City Council, said: “Funded by HEYCA, Hull’s LABG Plan has been developed following extensive consultation with passengers, key 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 and to provide even more transport options and enable people to make more sustainable travel choices.
“Over the past few years, we have seen a number of improvements to bus services, facilities and infrastructure across the city, and we are aiming to build on these over the next 12 months.”
Stuart Fillingham, commercial director at East Yorkshire Buses, said: “We’re proud to continue working closely with Hull City Council through the Hull Bus Alliance to deliver meaningful improvements for passengers. This funding will help us build on the progress already made, making bus travel in Hull more reliable, convenient and attractive for the people who rely on it every day.”
Dave Skepper, commercial director at Stagecoach East Midlands, added: “Buses are vital to the Hull economy and essential for local people, enabling them to get to work, education, healthcare, the shops, and visit friends and family. Buses are great value too, at a time when the fuel-price spike is making it less affordable for many people to run a car.
“Working in partnership, as we do in Hull, is the best way to deliver bus services, and we are pleased to see these important initiatives making make bus travel even better for local people.”
For more information about getting around Hull by bus, visit the Travel Hull website