DORSET Council's Cabinet has agreed to support plans to improve bus services across Dorset - in what has been described as one of the biggest shake ups for public transport in more than 30 years.

The council's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) is being developed in response to the government's new National Bus Strategy, which aims to make bus services across England more attractive, cheaper, easier to use, faster, more reliable, and greener.

The council said it has been working in partnership with local bus operators towards an agreed vision of improvements and an action plan that will form the BSIP.

READ MORE: Dorset Council to begin plans to improve bus services

Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for highways, travel and environment, told a meeting of the council's Cabinet on Tuesday: "It is one of the most exciting things I have been able to get involved with in my tenure as a as a portfolio holder.

"This whole project is all about making public transport work for the community. We have the difficulty that part of our area is rural and that part of our area is urban. The urban area is always easier to deal with than the rural area.

“We are working on plans to make public transport available to all. This programme is working with the bus companies under an enhance partnership to make sure that the bus companies are working with us to provide the right services in the right areas to the community as a whole.

"I just feel that this project is so essential to a number of areas, one is health and wellbeing, one is climate change and the other is making sure that those people who are not lucky enough to have their own transport have the ability to get from A to B with the least possible inconvenience."

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The BSIP will act on five key areas: networks and services, fares, ticketing, passenger facilities and bus priority measures.

The Cabinet agreed to support the bus service improvement plan recommendations: agreeing to the scope of the plan and committing its resources to produce and publish a plan by the end of October.

Lead member, Cllr Nocturin Lacey-Clarke, revealed survey results from consultations with the public which found Dorset residents would be most likely to use local buses more if they ran more frequently than they do and went to more places.

Cllr David Tooke asked how connected the buses would be with with neighbouring council areas and Cllr Lacey-Clarke confirmed that Dorset Council is currently discussing this with neighbouring councils.