Bus Strategy

Bus Back Better

On 31 March 2022 Essex County Council made the Enhanced Partnership with bus operators, which can be viewed below.  This includes a set of commitments for both ECC and bus operators which will start to deliver the Essex Bus Service Improvement Plan 2021 to 2026.

Essex County Council has started the process of responding to the new national bus strategy: Bus Back Better.

As a first step, it has made a decision to pursue an Enhanced Partnership with bus operators in Essex. You can see the formal notification for this below.  More background to that decision is included in the Cabinet Paper which was discussed at ECC’s Cabinet meeting on 22 June 2021. The Cabinet paper is available to download.

Essex County Council have published their Bus Service Improvement Plan 2021 to 2026 which can be accessed below.  The Plan describes the current bus network and the action that Essex County Council will take in partnership with bus operators and others to improve services.

Essex County Council has published the first annual review of its Bus Service Improvement Plan and summary reports of the 12 district area network reviews which were commissioned as part of its original Bus Service Improvement Plan.

Getting Around in Essex Bus Strategy

The Authority prioritises local bus services according to the Getting Around in Essex Strategy. You can find out the information below, including the Local Bus Services Priority Policy 2015-2020, the Bus Strategy and the Strategy Summary.

If you have any questions or are unsure about how the policy might affect your local bus service, you should first check our Supported Bus Services page to ensure that your bus service is operated under contract to Essex County Council. You can also find full information about how we prioritise services in the Priority Policy below. If you are still unclear, you can contact us by emailing passenger.transport@essex.gov.uk.