Bedford Borough Council has revealed its ambitions for a public transport overhaul that will see an Oyster-type smartcard rolled out in the autumn.

The council is taking advantage of its new unitary status to ‘encourage a resurgence in local public transport’, according to Bedford’s new mayor, Frank Branston.

The plans are set out into three parts and will begin with a bid to the Department for Transport’s kickstart building initiative for funding to provide additional bus services.

The second phase will see the introduction of an electronic travel card in the autumn to enable payment for travel on taxis and private hire cars.

The scheme is specifically aimed at young people living in the borough and will be extended onto buses and local trains in early 2010 pending its success.

The third stage is a complete revamp of transport information including a new website, interactive timetable and real-time information boards at bus stops across the borough.

Branston, who is also the borough’s cabinet member for regeneration and public transport, said: ‘When we were a second tier authority we could not do anything about this issue.

'The county council seemed to neglect it and were not interested in looking for new ideas. This was a concern because a lot of the borough’s rural areas were “public transport poor”.’

Glenn Barcham, the council’s assistant director for highways and transport, said: ‘It’s a question of how fast and big we are going with this. We are keen to cut our teeth with this project. The technology already exists but we are applying it in a new way.

‘If this works and has a good uptake, the successful pilot will be built on. We will know after about six months if this needs re-thinking or expanding to other forms of public transport.’

He said the council was in touch with other unitaries to ‘learn from their mistakes.