Portsmouth buses: Ideas put forward to improve services in the city

The city council's cabinet agreed its Bus Service Improvement Plan on Monday which also acts as its case for a share of the £3bn government fund announced in March.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, its cabinet member for transport, said the money would 'transform' bus travel in the city.

'The Bus Service Improvement Plan is part of a much bigger picture for Portsmouth, where we need to create cleaner air and provide people in our city with more travel options to help reduce the reliance on cars,' she said. 'As part of this wider picture, this plan is essential to create a better bus service - to get more people on the bus and provide a better service for those that already use it.'

The plan identifies a series of issues with the current network: 'slow' journey times, the geography of the island, having more than one main bus hub, a shortage of bus lanes, limited off-peak journey options, the amount of car parking, and 'disparities' in fares.

Analysis has shown some routes can average speeds below 10mph and can be more than three times slower than travelling by car.

'The uncompetitive public transport travel times have contributed to the fact that the majority of commuter journeys...are made by car,' the plan says. 'The city region is caught in a vicious cycle of too many cars, on too few corridors, causing severe congestion, environmental degradation, isolating communities and limiting productivity.'

It adds that there are also punctuality problems with 15 per cent of services running at least five minutes behind schedule, partly due to a 'lack' of bus lanes.

A consultation was held this year to gather public priorities for improvements to the network to encourage increased use.

The most common request was lower fares, followed by the introduction of a new single ticket system covering all operators and the provision of a wider range of services.

Included in the plan are a range of proposals to increase bus patronage from a new tap on and tap off payment system and common fare system to increased enforcement of bus lane and parking infringements.

In a bid to improve services in Paulsgrove, the plan proposes the frequency of the X4 route between Fareham and Portsmouth be increased from every 30 minutes to every 10.

Services to Anchorage Park industrial estate and Ocean Park shopping centre would also be made more frequent.

And the purchase of spare buses to be kept at 'strategic locations' is also proposed. These would be brought in on longer routes to replace vehicles caught in traffic during earlier stops.

The plan also focuses on increasing the number of off-peak services. It says it is 'socially necessary' to accommodate shift workers who are commuting outside of more typical hours.

This includes services to cater for 5.30am starts at QA Hospital and to run routes on Christmas day.

It says these 'have been well-received on the Isle of Wight and in Southampton' and would facilitate nationwide travel through connections to the National Express.

The under-16 discount is also proposed to be made larger to 50 per cent and extended to cover anyone under the age of 19. The plan says this could cost more than £1.3m a year.

No other financial details have been made public but a cabinet report said the bid 'is in the region of £120m'.

The council said if all its measures were funded and introduced journey time could reduce by 10 per cent by 2025 compared to cars.

A target has also been set to increase the reliability of services and to increase the number of people using buses, compared to pre-Covid figures.

Councillor Darren Sanders, the cabinet member for housing, said the project would be particularly beneficial to people on lower incomes.

'This is an important first step in trying to get more people onto the bus,' he said at Monday's meeting. 'I would certainly like it to go much further like the sort of regimes we see in London or Manchester but that's not on offer.'

The document has been put together by the council in conjunction with Hampshire and West Sussex county councils and the main bus operators in the city.

Jonathan Lewis, commercial manager for First Hampshire, Dorset and Berkshire, said: 'We are pleased that the plan shows a high level of ambition for how Portsmouth City Council and local bus operators will work together over the coming years to deliver a step-change in the quality and reliability of bus services.

'We welcome the highly achievable goals and wholeheartedly endorse its strong focus on supporting and enabling modal shift by offering people an attractive and viable alternative to the private car.'

The plan will be submitted before the October 31 deadline set by the Department for Transport as part of its National Bus Strategy.

It will then distribute the £3bn fund based on plans put forward across the country.

Here’s how News readers think Portsmouth bus services could be improved

We need something it's so expensive to get a bus in Portsmouth and the traffic is also horrendous!

Charlotte Hodgson

Have more buses that go to and from Farlington to other areas like Waterlooville – Milton busses that go to The Range and Ocean Retail Park. For people that don't drive it can be tricky and those that have bus passes I think you can only use it on one bus company

Cheryl Mcniff

Bus timetables that coincide with school times and working shifts etc, bus shelters at every stop if there is room and take away the stupid zone pricing - £2.50 for a couple of stops (it was raining) is ludicrous!

Kelly Rae Rolfe

Restore the bus service to Ocean Park. Ban parking on both sides of narrow roads used by buses, such as Goldsmith Avenue

Ross Kiddle·

Needs to be cheaper, as two traveling or family, it’s cheaper to get a cab

Chris Williams

Stop so many number 7 following each other with few passengers and put them on other routes

Stephen Justice

The no 2 from QA need more buses at night when we nurses finish work. After you've just finished a 12-hour shift it’s tiring when you have to wait up 30 mins till your bus comes then it’s packed.

Maureen Mullings

Circular monorail around the city

Dave Lock

Need lower fares. It is much cheaper for me to drive and park than catch a bus.

Margaret Humphreys

Lower fares with routes decided by the council for more coverage across Portsmouth. At the moment the bus companies decide where they want to go to maximise their profits rather than provide a joined-up service to the community.

John Smith·

Lower fares more routes

Paul Ellis

Renationalise public transport!

Stu Ford

Every 15 mins and £1 whether one stops or 15

Paul Kennedy

More routes. I can't get Copnor to the seafront now or Old Portsmouth. There is also now no service to Ocean Park despite M&S being there now. We also need fares to make it worthwhile rather than driving or getting a taxi.

Brett Rumfitt

A tramway from Waterlooville to Portsmouth bus station, even better a train station linking Waterlooville with Portsmouth, Winchester, Fareham and Chichester

Pauline Jones

Make the fares cheaper

Jacky Walsh

Cashless ticketing like in London.

Geoffrey Brooking

Go back to running a bus from Southsea to Cosham through Fratton, now you have to change buses, it used to be so much better. Plus cheaper fares of course

Leslie Harris

Joined-up services like most major cities around the globe with cheaper fares. Taking advantage of the railway that runs through the city too.

Matthew Hedeker

The only way you will get people on buses is by subsidising travel! In turkey you hop on a dolmas and can go any where for peanuts

Martin Kerr

Most successful cities have timed tickets rather than ‘Point to Point’ Prague or Rome you can travel all day on ay public transport for less than I pay for a return to Fareham!

David Williams

Fare prices are ridiculous and I would rather use my car. They should be encouraging us all to be greener and use public transport.

Carla Vasey

Better, more frequent buses in the evenings. Also more buses to southsea in the summer so they are not to crowded.

Kelly Turner

I'd like to see fares restructured to be per stop rather than a final destination maybe a few stops further on

Mark Wilson

Allow councils to own or contract bus services on their terms. Tickets that work on buses and trains, regardless of issuing company (IE Portsmouth or Hampshire all day, you can use on train or bus).

You know, an integrated ticketing and transport system like pretty much every city on the continent & in London.

Simon Sansbury