Plans to make bus journeys in the borough quicker, greener and better value for money have been unveiled.

With nearly fifteen million bus journeys taking place in the borough each year, the West Midlands Bus Alliance has developed a Dudley Bus Network Development Plan, which sets out plans to overhaul all aspects of bus travel in Dudley. The plan will be presented to Dudley Council’s cabinet at its meeting next week and members will be asked to give it the green light.

The plan, which has been developed by partners in the West Midlands Bus Alliance, will look at ways to reduce congestion on the roads, improve travel times and ensure bus travel is seen as an affordable and reliable way to get around the borough.

It will look at how it can make catching the bus the easy option by offering contactless payments across all services, what can be done to make buses more reliable, and ensure more passengers have access to real time travel information. There will also be new buses that have lower emissions and other buses will be retrofit with new technology to improve the standard of their emissions. Councillor Ian Kettle, cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said:

"With millions of bus journeys taking place each year in the borough, we know it’s a popular mode of transport for our residents. We also know that Dudley borough is changing, we have exciting regeneration plans and an economy that is on the up.

"With new commercial and housing developments and more local jobs on the way, there will be more people choosing to live and work in the borough and we need a bus service that can meet these growing demands, is reliable and offers great connectivity for everyone.

"I welcome the plan and hope it gets the full support of cabinet next week.”