Objective 5: Increasing accessibility

Summary of Objective

This objective aims to improve local connections, making sure conditions are right for walking, cycling, wheeling, public transport. Progress in this theme has been really positive with roll out of the Bus Service Improvement Plan and the delivery of new cycling and walking infrastructure.  

Policies

• Policy 14: We will work in partnership with agencies in Norfolk to tackle accessibility problems, targeting those communities most in need. We will seek to ensure that accessibility is planned as part of service delivery 
• Policy 15: We will identify routes important for sustainable and active transport and give priority - especially in urban areas - to sustainable and active modes of transport 
• Policy 16: We commit to providing a network where transport and movement can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people. We recognise that people who live, work in and visit Norfolk access the network in different ways, depending on their individual circumstances and characteristics, and that what enables good access for one person may act as a barrier to another. We will therefore robustly assess all schemes and pay due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (along with our other duties and responsibilities) 

Objective 5: Delivery highlights

• We have implemented a range of interventions through the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) including: 
  • Cromer Travel Hub Upgrade 
  • Queens Road, Norwich, bus lane completed April 2024 
  • Norfolk Lavender, Heacham, junction improvements completed October 2024 
  • Ipswich Road, Norwich, bus lane completed November 2024 
  • Dereham Road/Barn Rd, Norwich, junction - capacity improvements completed February 2025 
  • Angel Road, Norwich, junction priority completed March 2025 
• The action to create an Enhanced Partnership was completed back in 2022 and the plan and scheme was updated in December 2024. The Norfolk Enhanced Partnership enables us to deliver the Bus Service Improvement Plan in partnership between Norfolk County Council, as the Local Transport Authority, and local bus operators.  
• Transport Focus conducted independent customer surveys into public satisfaction with bus services and between January 2024 and January 2025 satisfaction improved by 10%, in line with the national average. These satisfaction levels may reflect BSIP funded fares offers in urban areas such as King's Lynn and the national fare cap in other areas. Norfolk was shown to perform well when compared against other rural authorities, particularly service frequency. 
• £9.8 million is being spent on integrated travel hubs and improvements to stops and waiting areas across the county. A travel hub is a recognisable place with an enhanced offer of integrated and connected transport modes with a good standard of facilities and information provision. Our second travel hub was opened in Cromer in April 2025. The new facilities include bus shelters, real-time information, accessible access onto the bus, cycle parking and repair station. The first travel hub was delivered in North Walsham in 2022 to improve the town's accessibility and as part of the High Street Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) Project.  
• Continued rollout of Better Broadband for Norfolk. This is a partnership project transforming broadband speeds across the county by installing high-speed fibre optic networks. 
  • Project Gigabit aims to build a gigabit-capable network, to offer residents and businesses faster speeds. 
  • 6,900 premises were completed as at the end May 2025. 
  • Following the completion of the first two phases the programme has increased from 62,000 premises and £114M of investment to 80,000 premises and £128M investment. 
  • Social value outcome monitoring is ongoing. 
  • NCC is now investigating the use of small cell technology to boost mobile coverage in rural areas. This could use the infrastructure installed in the ten Fixed Wireless Access village halls, or within the other 200 county council networked sites. 
• Attended the BCKLWN Local Plan Examination to provide support on transport issues relating to the West Winch Growth Area (WWGA) and the overall spatial distribution of growth. 
• Agreement has been reached to extend the existing Beryl contract for a further two years, which was allowed for in the contract. This was applied from March 2025 and there will be the option to extend a further two years in March 2027.  
  • The Beryl scheme continues to grow with 93,415 users, 1.8 million rides and 3.1m miles travelled since launch on 17 March 2020 to 2024.  
  • A study has been completed looking at options for delivering micromobility in other areas of Norfolk, which shows potential in Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, as well as some of Norfolk's larger market towns. 
  • Survey responses filled in by users show that many Beryl journeys have replaced a vehicular trip (replacing either a car, taxi or motorbike), helping reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution.  
• Greater Anglia have partnered with free Online British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreting Service, SignLive. Users of BSL can now use SignLive to connect to them via an Interpreter. Just log in to the SignLive app on iOS, Android, or a web browser and find them in the Community Directory. This will enable people traveling in and around Norfolk to better access information and make rail travel feel more accessible. 
• Travel Norfolk is up and running as a comprehensive online journey planner. Improvements to the site during 2024-25 have been the inclusion of live rail information to the map made possible through funding from the Greater Anglia Community Fund. It has also become the home page for the new Norwich Park & Ride services. In 2024-25 period there have been: 
  • 24,653 users of the Travel Norfolk website  
  • 34, 709 sessions on the Travel Norfolk website  
  • 24,000 journeys planned  
  • 23% of visitors are coming direct, which is up 10% on last year, showing an increased awareness of the site.  

• In January 2024 Norfolk County Council announced that free bus travel would be extended for people with disabilities, as a result of the updated equality impact assessment of the bus fare scheme. 

Work for next period

Delivery will continue to achieve the target indicator to grow annual bus patronage in Norfolk. Bus patronage figures supplied by the region's bus operators show that there were 28.6m journeys made by bus in 2024-25, which is a nine percent increase on the previous year and 22% greater than two years previous. Between April 2024 and March 2025, monthly totals were up to 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels. 

In 2024 new and enhanced Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funded services have helped plug gaps where previously little or no public transport existed, successfully working towards the target to increase rural accessibility by 85% by 2027. For the 2024-25 period rural accessibility was 82.7%, exceeding the target of 81%. Passenger numbers for 2024-25 have shown an increase of 9.7% on the previous year.  

A delivery plan for the 2025-26 BSIP allocation has been produced and includes allocation for new travel hubs across the county, bus priority infrastructure, bus stop improvements, zero emission buses, continuing fare caps in urban areas of King's Lynn, Thetford and Great Yarmouth and continued support for bus services that are not commercially viable but vital to local communities. Works are underway on a new travel hub at King's Lynn and works are being planned for Hunstanton, Sheringham and Diss later in 2025. 

2025/26 will see the launch of a bike campaign for Norwich, King's Lynn and Yarmouth to direct more people looking for active travel options to the Travel Norfolk website. There are also two bus campaigns planned which will drive traffic to new and improved bus information pages.  

Walking, wheeling and cycling improvements will continue to be planned and delivered through working closely with Members, Active Travel England, District Councils and key stakeholders. These partnerships help to prioritise schemes and seek funding opportunities to enable the delivery of infrastructure changes and projects which provide the best outcomes for the people of Norfolk and the environment. 

Work continues on Norwich Network Review and requires completion of transport strategies and funding, before being able to progress further.  

'Real People on Bikes Campaign' started on 12 May 2025. As well as looking at social media stats, the campaign will be evaluated using intercepts surveys at the billboard locations. The results of this campaign will be included in the 2025-26 highlight report.