Please be aware that the meeting that this news story relates to has been postponed and will be rearranged in due course.
The Southend Local Bus Forum, a group of key local stakeholders, will meet again on Monday 18 March to review future priorities for bus services.
The forum was set up as part of the Southend-on-Sea Enhanced Partnership, following on from the council's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which was put into place in October 2021.
At the initial meeting of the forum in September 2023, forum members agreed, out of the seven BSIP objectives, the following two objectives should be prioritised:
- to manage the highway network to improve the reliability of local bus services
- to make local bus journeys quicker, especially on key routes in Southend
The BSIP was produced in response to the government's ‘Bus Back Better’ National Bus Strategy to put bus services across England on a sustainable long-term footing following the global pandemic. The BSIP now needs to be refreshed in line with government guidance, and the forum's role is to help advise on the strategic priorities for that.
The Local Bus Forum includes representatives from Southend-on-Sea City Council, adjoining councils, the three local bus operators (Arriva, First and Stephensons), Southend Area Bus User Group, Campaign for Better Transport, Bus Users UK, Southend City BID, Essex Police and Transport Focus.
It is a meeting in public and members of the public are being invited to ask questions or make comments to the forum about the items on the meeting’s agenda, which will be published on the council's website later next week, along with details of how to do that.
Councillor Kevin Buck, cabinet member for highways, transport and parking, said: “There is no denying that improvements can be made to local bus services and while we have everyone around the one table, it would be great to get questions and input from stakeholders.
“For some people, especially older generations, public transport is a lifeline because they have no other means to get to the shops or medical appointments or social clubs. We have a duty to make sure it is safe, affordable and fit for purpose.
“Most of our existing bus services are cross-boundary, so we've always worked closely with Essex County Council and local bus services, but now we want to bring extra focus and make buses a realistic and reliable alternative to driving in our City.”
The meeting of the Southend Local Bus Forum will take place on Monday 18 March 2024, at 3pm in the Jubilee Room at Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6ER, and online.
Find out more about the Bus Service Improvement Plan, the Enhanced Partnership and the Local Bus Forum.