Love Your Bus Grant Fund Information Hub

Welcome to the central resource for the Love Your Bus grant scheme. This page provides all the essential information, guidance, and tools to support Parish and Town Councils in Essex in applying for funding to enhance existing local bus services.

About the Grant

Love Your Bus is a community-led grant initiative launched by Essex County Council (ECC) and funded through the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

This funding opportunity enables Parish and Town Councils in Essex to bid for support to grow and sustain their local bus routes. It encourages community-led action and partnerships with transport providers to improve bus services.

• First round of Love Your Bus funding launched in December 2024 projects are in their delivery stage 2025/2026 Read more about Love your Bus 2024/2025 Outcome

• Second round of Love your Bus is live now, and open to applications until 31st January 2026 Click Here to find out How To Apply

Project Aims

• Support community-led initiatives to grow and sustain local bus routes

• Enable partnerships between communities and local transport providers

• Deliver locally tailored enhancements that reflect each community’s needs

Key Details

• Maximum award: £50,000 per project

• Up to 3 projects per Parish/Town Council

• Joint applications encouraged for wider service areas

Purpose of the Fund

The objective of the Love Your Bus Grant Fund is to enable Parish and Town Councils to invest in revenue-based measures that will help increase patronage on local bus services serving their communities.

A wide range of initiatives will be considered, including (but not limited to):

• Service Enhancements
  Improvements such as increased frequency during peak hours, introduction of early morning or late-night services, or route extensions to connect underserved areas to key destinations.

• Community Engagement and Promotion
  Activities like targeted marketing campaigns, community events, and partnerships with schools or local groups to raise awareness and encourage bus use.

• Passenger Experience Improvements
  Enhancements such as clearer passenger information (e.g. maps, timetables, posters in accessible formats), accessibility initiatives (e.g. bus buddy schemes, targeted travel support), and systems for collecting and acting on passenger feedback.

• Incentive Programmes
  Initiatives like loyalty rewards for frequent users, collaborations with local businesses to promote bus use among staff and customers, seasonal or themed services, and social media campaigns.

Eligibility & Guidance Overview

The Love Your Bus grant fundi is designed to support enhancements to existing local bus services and is not intended for the creation of new routes.

Who Can Apply

• Parish and Town Councils within Essex

• Joint applications encouraged for wider service areas

What the Grant Covers

• Revenue-based measures to grow and sustain local bus routes

• Initiatives that improve passenger experience and increase bus patronage

Guidance on Contracted Services

To support Parish and Town Councils during the application process, we have published a spreadsheet listing all Essex County Council subsidised local bus contracts and their expiry dates. This is designed to provide clarity while the Supported Local Bus Service Consultation is ongoing, with final decisions expected in the new year.

If the service number you are applying for does not appear on this list, it is a commercially operated service, and any proposal will be at the discretion of the transport provider to determine whether it is a viable option.

Please note:

• Your proposal must complement existing service but not require any changes to the existing contract. 

• If you are unsure whether a section of a route is subsidised, please contact us for clarification.

• A full list of current subsidised services and their contract expiry dates can be found below;

  List of Supported Local Bus services expiring in 2026

  List of Supported Local Bus services expiring in 2028

Need Help? Join Our Engagement Sessions

We understand this overlap with the consultation makes the process more challenging, so we’re committed to assisting applicants. Weekly engagement sessions are running to offer guidance and answer questions. Councils can attend as many as they wish,  these sessions are designed to support applications during this transition period.