Buses matter to people’s everyday lives and we want them to be better. There are lots of ideas for improvement and by working together we can make them happen. The Bus Plan will set out our shared ambitions and the direction we are taking to deliver better bus services for everyone. The West of England Combined Authority is responsible for delivering a simple, affordable and effective network, working with local councils and private bus operators to achieve this. It is important that the Bus Plan is developed with input from the people who use the bus and also those who don’t currently use the bus for a variety of reasons. We have launched this six-week engagement so that we can hear directly from local residents.

The Bus Plan is our long-term ambition for buses in the region. We are determined to build a network you can trust, that feels safe and accessible, takes you where and when you need to go, that is fit for future, and that is affordable and offers good value for money.

With the forthcoming Bus Plan, it is important that we hear directly from local residents about their experience of using the bus and why it is that other residents choose not to use the bus. The feedback we receive from this survey will inform our plans for buses for years to come.

The results of this survey will directly inform the Bus Plan for the West of England, which sets the overall strategic direction of bus services in our region. Surveys conducted by private operators are important to their understanding of how people are using their services, but this survey is about understanding the overall experience of and feeling about bus services in the West of England.

The feedback from this survey will be used to inform the West of England Bus Plan, which will inform our plans for bus services across the region for years to come.

As a Local Transport Authority, the West of England Combined Authority funds a small number of bus services directly, but also invests money in strategic transport projects across the region. The results of this survey, and how it informs the Bus Plan for the West of England, will help determine how this funding is spent in the future.

If we are going to increase bus usage in the West of England, it is important we hear from those who don’t currently use the bus as well as those who do. There are many reasons why people may choose alternative modes of transport and we want to understand the barriers that are preventing people from choosing the bus instead.

The online survey is open for six weeks until Sunday 10 May. There are paper copies of the survey available in libraries, community centres and some GPs surgeries across the region, and we will be accepting those postal responses until Friday 15 May.

There are paper copies available in libraries, community centres and some GPs surgeries across the region. You can also request a paper copy by contacting the West of England Combined Authority directly at comms@westofengland-ca.gov.uk or by phoning 0117 428 6210 and leaving a message with your name and address, and a paper copy will be posted to you.

You can send back a paper copy of the survey by putting it in an envelope and addressing it to:

FREEPOST West of England Combined Authority

No need for a stamp!

You can request alternative versions of the survey by emailing comms@westofengland-ca.gov.uk or by phoning 0117 428 6210 and leaving a message with your name and contact details so that an alternative version can be emailed or posted to you.

It is important that we understand the experience of different groups of people, e.g. younger people, and people in different parts of the region, as these may be very different depending on people’s demographics and where they live. By collecting these details, we will be able to better understand the differences in how our diverse population use and feel about our bus services.

Once the engagement is complete, the results will be analysed and used to inform the Bus Plan for the West of England, which will set the strategic direction of our plans for the region’s buses for years to come.