Bus Service Improvement Plan Schemes

The council adopted its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) in October 2021, setting out plans to enhance services and encourage more people to travel by bus in Reading. The BSIP was fully aligned with the objectives of the National Bus Strategy ‘Bus Back Better’. The council was awarded £26.263m funding in January 2023, which was the third highest funding award (per head of population) in the country.

The BSIP programme includes a range of both capital and revenue measures. These include:

• Phase 5 of the South Reading BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) scheme
• Programme of new bus lanes on key routes in the Borough
• Improvements to passenger facilities at Mereoak Park & Ride
• Package of town centre public transport enhancements, bus signal priority measures and improvements for passengers at bus stops
• Introduction of a multi-operator fares discount scheme
• Programme of bus service enhancements

Bus Lane Schemes

During the Period of April 2022 to March 2023, 17.5 million passenger journeys were made across the Reading area. Based on current projections for the council is expecting this to increase to approximately 20 million passenger journeys by March 2024. Continuing to develop Readings transport infrastructure supports the councils ambitions (as detailed within its RTS), where it is aiming to increase passenger journeys to 28 million by 2040. 

Designs have been developed for six bus lanes across the borough and have been identified as areas where bus services suffer delays as a result of traffic congestion, particularly at peak times. Therefore, there is a need to introduce greater priority for buses on key routes to improve services for bus users, specifically journey times and reliability which in tur encourages modal shift and supports the environmental benefits of public transport.

The proposed bus lanes are as follows:

• A329 Oxford Road – Outbound bus lane between Zinzan Street and George Street
• A329 Oxford Road – Outbound bus lane between Pangbourne Street and Norcot Junction
• A4 Bath Road – Outbound bus lane from Circuit Lane to Granville Road
• A327 – Southampton Street – Inbound bus lane from Pell Street to The Oracle roundabout
• A4 London Road – Inbound bus lane between Sidmouth Street and London Street
• A4 London Road – Inbound bus lane between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction

Concept designs of proposed bus lanes

BSIP Bus Lane -Oxford Road East
BSIP Bus Lane -Oxford Road West
BSIP Bus Lane -Bath Road
BSIP Bus Lane -Southampton Street Roundabout
BSIP Bus Lane -London Road Kendrick Road
BSIP Bus Lane -London Road Cemetery Junction

Bus Lane Schemes – frequently asked questions