Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP)-funded timetable improvements in Lincolnshire have seen ridership on affected routes grow by up to 118% and delivered a net rise in passenger numbers across the county of 150,000, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) says.
The Stamford town service operated by Bland’s has recorded the headline 118% increase. It previously carried an average of 80 passengers per week until June but now averages 200. The timetable has expanded from four journeys per day on three days per week to hourly departures over six days.
Town services in Gainsborough, Grantham and Skegness now also see “hundreds more passengers every week” thanks to BSIP-funded improvements in Lincolnshire. The Saturday service between Boston and Lincoln has seen average patronage rise by 112%.
New evening services in Lincoln are continuing to grow. LCC says that in the first six weeks of those journeys being reintroduced in April, an average of 650 passengers were carried each week. That figure has now risen to 950. Centrebus, PC Coaches, Sleafordian and Stagecoach East Midlands are also among those involved in the various uplifts.
Meanwhile, the demand-responsive Callconnect offering, which is captured by the £2 bus fare cap, has seen a “massive” number of users. The cap was extended to Callconnect in September 2023 and 77,500 travellers on that service have taken advantage of it.
LCC Executive Member for Transport Cllr Richard Davies describes the passenger numbers as “terrific,” noting that they illustrate how successful the BSIP work between the local authority and bus operators has been.
Cllr Davies adds that those parties have worked together “to increase the right services in the right areas and even bring back some older, discontinued services.”
He continues: “As soon as we started this work, we saw people returning to bus use right across Lincolnshire on the improved services. Because of that support from local communities, we were encouraged to continue our work further with more funding, and the results are speaking for themselves.”
