Bus operator Stagecoach has announced changes to its local bus services, starting from June 8.
This initiative forms part of Hampshire and Surrey County Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) which directs funding provided by the Department for Transport towards measures that will help to grow bus passenger use on commercially run bus routes.
These Stagecoach service initiatives have been identified as an area with strong potential for passenger growth.
To meet rising demand, Service 18, linking Whitehill and Bordon with Farnham and Aldershot, will see its frequency doubled. From June, buses will run every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and hourly on Sundays.
Stagecoach is also revising its local routes within Bordon, ensuring more integration between the new housing developments and the existing town centre. A new route map will be published to outline these changes.
The bus company is launching a brand-new Sunday service on Service 13, connecting Bordon with Alton and Basingstoke.
This extension of the existing Service 13 will offer six return trips every Sunday, with the first bus departing Bordon at 8am and the last returning from Basingstoke at 6.30pm.
To mark the launch, free travel will be available on June 8, 15, 22, and 29.
Rob Vince, Business Development Manager at Stagecoach South, said: “We’re committed to supporting our local communities by improving access to sustainable transport.
“These changes will provide residents with more frequent, reliable, and accessible travel options, helping more people make the switch to bus travel.”
Cllr Lulu Bowerman, Hampshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and passenger transport, added:“We want to encourage more people to get on board a bus in Hampshire as every extra journey helps to support commercial services and reduce car journeys which is good for the environment.
“These latest enhancements to two bus routes linking Whitehill and Bordon with Aldershot, via Farnham, where onward rail connections are available towards London, and with Basingstoke, via Alton, is great news for passengers, supporting our shared aim of making bus travel a more convenient and attraction option for local people.”
Cllr Steve Bax, deputy cabinet member for highways at Surrey County Council, said, “I’m delighted that Surrey residents will benefit from these extra Stagecoach services which will increase the frequency of buses significantly in the Farnham area.
“Surrey County Council has allocated £174,000 of Department for Transport funding to these improvements, as part of our county-wide programme to enhance and protect local bus services.”
“Our Surrey LINK card gives young people half-price bus travel and we’ve expanded our on-demand Surrey Connect bus services to cover areas where there are limited fixed bus routes, giving more options to travel by bus for all residents right across Surrey. We’ve also invested £6.3m in more ultra-low and zero emission community transport minibuses, £9m in bus priority measures to ensure Surrey buses turn up on time, and £1.4m in improving information for passengers at bus stops.”
To help local residents utilise the new service, information leaflets with free travel tickets will be delivered to homes across Whitehill and Bordon.
Stagecoach is also working with local housing developers to ensure new residents’ benefit from travel incentives included in their development Travel Plans.
Residents are invited to join Stagecoach South at The Shed on June 14 from 10am until 2pm, where the team will be on hand to explain the changes in more detail.
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