Enhanced Partnerships
An Enhanced Partnership is an agreement between us and the bus operators in a particular area. It sets out how they will work together to deliver the objectives of the National Bus Strategy and the Bus Service Improvement Plan.
We developed a plan for the county to run the partnership as 3 schemes:
- East Kent
- West Kent
- Kent Thameside.
These 3 schemes include input from Kent County Council, district councils and bus operators.
By using these schemes the council has more control over the bus network and has the ability to set standards for issues such as customer service, vehicles and emissions. For example, the Dover and Folkestone and Hythe districts have to deal with a lot of traffic that is generated by commuters crossing the channel, while areas such as Dartford and Gravesham encounter complex situations with the bus services and travel links due to how close they are to London.
This allows for a much more targeted approach on local bus issues faced by individual towns and villages.