COUNCILLORS have approved plans for more than £10million of improvements to the county’s bus network, including services from Newton Abbot to Exeter.

Devon County Council is receiving the funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to support its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) for the 2025/26 financial year.

The Council’s Cabinet has backed a high level plan of how this latest BSIP grant will be invested to increase bus patronage across the county, and build on the achievements of previous BSIP projects.

The BSIP plan to be delivered by March 2026 includes: bus priority technology and bus stop infrastructure improvements on key routes which have frequent and direct bus services, including the Newton Abbot/Teignmouth to Exeter service.

It will also improve the frequency of the best performing services in the county to give them the best chance of becoming commercially sustainable.

This includes Service 2 Newton Abbot - Teignmouth - Exeter will increase Monday to Friday daytime frequency to every 20 minutes.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said: ‘The investments we’re making through our Bus Service Improvement Plan are designed to make travelling by public transport easier and to make it a more appealing option for people.

‘Encouraging more people onto bus services can help tackle congestion and enable Devon to achieve its carbon reduction targets.

‘We’re having to prioritise how and where we invest our funding but the schemes we have focused on provide the best opportunity to strengthen the bus network in Devon, and work towards making bus travel an attractive alternative to the car.

‘These schemes will provide vital upgrades that directly benefit passengers, whether that’s through more frequent services, better information on services or a more welcoming environment at bus stations and bus shelters.’