Public transport in Telford to get £300,000 boost

The funds will be used to develop and invest in measures to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles and use bus and rail services.

These will be explored over the next 12 months and residents, bus users and organisations will be consulted on how the investment can be targeted and maximised.

Specific measures could include the roll-out of smart ticketing, improvements to bus stops, the roll-out of real time bus service information, and a young person's travel offer. The council will also look at developing a demand responsive transport service to improve accessibility to the borough’s industrial estates.

Councillor Hilda Rhodes, the council’s cabinet member for transport and roads, said: “I am delighted we are able to make this money available to fund a range of new public transport initiatives.

"It is no secret that, as a new town, Telford was built with the car in mind so it is important we work to put in place infrastructure and services that make the borough as public transport-friendly as possible.

“We will put service users at the heart of this and their input into which initiatives this money will fund will be vital so we will be consulting with service users and user groups as well transport service providers.”

Further information will become available over the next few months. The £300,000 investment is part of a series of one-off investments, which will total £3.6m. It was made due to changes to the council’s finances, including a one-off VAT refund.