Government to spend £104 million to improve public transport outside of London

The UK government has announced a £104-million funding package to fund public transport and cycling infrastructure in towns and rural areas across England.

This funding forms part of a larger £2.3-billion government investment to support local transport connections, and will be made available for use by local authorities to improve public transport infrastructure in their community.

This package will help provide millions of people across the country with greater access to jobs, education, and public services, the government said.

Local authorities will be required to use this funding to effectively deliver new local transport infrastructure schemes, such as zero-emission buses, reducing congestion, and adding more cycle lanes and pedestrian safety infrastructure.

The funding boost will see significant uplifts for the North West, Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands and West Midlands, and guidance will be made available to councils to help them develop detailed plans for local schemes in line with the funding requirements.

“Good transport connections are the foundation of thriving communities, which is why we’re backing local authorities to transform journeys for millions of people across England,” said Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

“This investment will help councils to improve transport for local people – from cleaner buses to safer cycling routes – connecting communities with jobs, education and essential services.”

“By putting resources directly into the hands of local leaders, we’re ensuring every part of the country benefits from better transport links that support economic growth and provide opportunity – all part of our Plan for Change,” she said.

The full breakdown of how much each local authority will receive from this package over the coming years is listed below.

Local Transport Authority	Total resource funding (£m)	2026 to 2027 (£m)	2027 to 2028 (£m)	2028 to 2029 (£m)
Bedford	0.725	0.242	0.242	0.242
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	1.125	0.375	0.375	0.375
Bracknell Forest	0.610	0.203	0.203	0.203
Brighton and Hove	0.893	0.298	0.298	0.298
Buckinghamshire	1.429	0.476	0.476	0.476
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority	2.458	0.819	0.819	0.819
Central Bedfordshire	0.947	0.316	0.316	0.316
Cheshire East	1.747	0.380	0.684	0.683
Cheshire West and Chester	1.691	0.351	0.670	0.670
Cornwall	1.451	0.484	0.484	0.484
Cumberland	1.465	0.296	0.584	0.585
Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority	2.559	0.853	0.853	0.853
Dorset	1.090	0.363	0.363	0.363
East Sussex	1.408	0.469	0.469	0.469
Essex	3.241	1.080	1.080	1.080
Gloucestershire	1.602	0.534	0.534	0.534
Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority	5.585	1.063	2.259	2.263
Hampshire	3.040	1.013	1.013	1.013
Herefordshire, County of	1.097	0.242	0.427	0.428
Hertfordshire	2.641	0.880	0.880	0.880
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority	3.444	0.634	1.403	1.407
Isle of Wight	0.634	0.211	0.211	0.211
Kent	3.379	1.126	1.126	1.126
Lancashire Combined County Authority	7.588	1.349	3.117	3.123
Leicester	2.071	0.360	0.854	0.857
Leicestershire	2.736	0.581	1.079	1.076
Luton	0.802	0.267	0.267	0.267
Medway	0.906	0.302	0.302	0.302
Milton Keynes	0.928	0.309	0.309	0.309
Norfolk	2.112	0.704	0.704	0.704
North Northamptonshire	1.726	0.353	0.686	0.687
North Somerset	0.784	0.261	0.261	0.261
Oxfordshire	1.772	0.591	0.591	0.591
Plymouth	0.873	0.291	0.291	0.291
Portsmouth	0.763	0.254	0.254	0.254
Reading	0.704	0.235	0.235	0.235
Rutland	0.465	0.149	0.157	0.158
Shropshire	1.532	0.329	0.602	0.602
Slough	0.671	0.224	0.224	0.224
Somerset	1.456	0.485	0.485	0.485
Southampton	0.849	0.283	0.283	0.283
Southend-on-Sea	0.711	0.237	0.237	0.237
Staffordshire	3.391	0.683	1.357	1.351
Stoke-on-Trent	1.520	0.287	0.623	0.610
Suffolk	1.821	0.607	0.607	0.607
Surrey	2.666	0.889	0.889	0.889
Swindon	0.816	0.272	0.272	0.272
Telford and Wrekin	1.323	0.243	0.539	0.542
Thurrock	0.704	0.235	0.235	0.235
Warrington	1.210	0.256	0.476	0.478
Warwickshire	2.435	0.508	0.964	0.962
West Berkshire	0.676	0.225	0.225	0.225
West Northamptonshire	1.811	0.394	0.709	0.708
West Sussex	2.054	0.685	0.685	0.685
Westmorland and Furness	1.216	0.266	0.475	0.476
Wiltshire	1.338	0.446	0.446	0.446
Windsor and Maidenhead	0.661	0.220	0.220	0.220
Wokingham	0.714	0.238	0.238	0.238
Worcestershire	2.461	0.506	0.978	0.977
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority	3.471	0.767	1.353	1.352
Total	104	28	38	38

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