Bus services in Kent

Last updated: 24 July 2023

This page is for residents to find out the latest information on bus services in Kent.

Who runs bus services

We don’t run bus services in Kent, they are run for profit by private bus operators. We do not have the powers or funding of an organisation like Transport for London.

However, we do provide funding to subsidise some routes or services that are not viable for private bus operators to run.

Bus use in Kent, as with rest of the UK, has only partially recovered since the pandemic. Local use of buses is around 80% of pre-pandemic levels, with off-peak use being much less than this.

Changes to bus services in Kent

Most changes to bus services have been proposed by private bus companies (affecting more than 100 services), some of which impact on school routes. View the list of bus services affected.

Bus operators continue to face significant financial pressures from rising costs, significantly lower passenger numbers since the pandemic and a shortage of drivers.

These services are not provided, or subsidised, by KCC.

In recognition of the impact these bus operator cuts would have on pupils and their families, we worked closely with them during the summer to provide a range of different measures to enable as many pupils as possible to get to school from September and protect as many school buses as possible at least until the end of the current school year. This is detailed in the bus service list below. This work resulted in a much better position for passengers than was thought possible earlier in the summer.

The 100+ bus withdrawals announced this year by private bus operators are entirely separate to the 38 bus contracts we planned to withdraw subsidies from. We consulted on these bus reduction plans in the summer, and councillors voted to proceed with the planned subsidy withdrawals at the Full Council meeting on 20 October, to achieve a saving of £2.2 million. These services will stop on 12 February 2023.

KCC continues to invest over £30 million in support of Kent’s bus network and its users. This includes subsidising more than 80 bus routes, subsidising the costs of bus travel for students through the Kent Travel Saver and 16+ schemes and supporting free travel for elderly and disabled bus users.

In recognition of the importance that local communities place on bus services, this year we have significantly boosted the money available for local community transport schemes, increasing the fund from £100,000 to £450,000. We will be inviting applications from local communities shortly – find out more about community transport schemes. The decision to find the funding to protect the Kent Karriers also acknowledged the role that these services play, particularly when other bus services are struggling to survive and, in some instances, are being withdrawn or reduced by operators.

We have also committed to setting up a cross-party group to develop our future bus policy.

The latest bus service updates

These are the known and anticipated changes and cancellations to bus services in Kent, including the services affected by our subsidy withdrawals. The information shows services that are provided on a commercial basis (by bus operators) and those that are funded by us.

We are working with operators to try to provide some alternative services. When we receive information about alternative services, the information below will be updated.

Or download the full list of service withdrawals planned (PDF, 133.3 KB).