Nexus and the Tyne and Wear Local Authorities would like to thank everyone for their input into the Accessible Bus Network Design (ABND) project consultation. The feedback and comments we received have helped us to shape our plans, and without them our network would be much less effective.

This consultation took place between March 2010 and August 2010 across the four districts of Tyne and Wear involved, and concentrated on the ‘subsidised’ services and the changes we proposed for them. This consultation gave you the opportunity to tell us whether our proposals meet your needs for local bus travel, and the feedback received has helped to ensure that the final network design best meets the needs of local residents, within the funding available.

In March 2009 the Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) approved the revised Tyne and Wear Bus Strategy. The Accessible Bus Network Design Project was set up as an outcome of this with the objective ‘to design an accessible bus network for Tyne and Wear that delivers the best possible accessibility for local residents within the funding available, and assists in the achievement of the accessibility targets contained within the Bus Strategy’.

We concentrated our proposed changes on the 10% of bus services subsidised by Nexus using funds from local authorities, but made sure our plans fitted in with the other 90% of services which are provided commercially by private operators to their own routes and timetables.

Nexus can subsidise the whole of a route or just one part, if an operator does not wish to fund it. It can also subsidise a route only at certain times (often evenings or Sundays) when there are fewer passengers but the route meets an important social need. This ensures the needs of as many people as possible are met across all bus services, without duplication.