Thirty-one areas in England, including Liverpool, Norfolk and Cornwall, have been selected to receive government funding to improve bus services.
However, other places like Blackpool and Slough will miss out on the £1.08billion cash pot made available by the Government.
The transport department said it had given money to areas that had “ambitions to repeat the success achieved in London – which has spurred bus use”.
But Labor said “large parts” of the country were missing out on funding.
And the Better Transport campaign said the money provided was “feeling short” of what local authorities needed.
The €1.08 billion allocated to the 31 local authorities
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Last year the government announced its £3billion bus strategy which would make buses cheaper and easier to use across the country.
It promised services that would be frequent enough for passengers to “show up and go.”
As part of the strategy, local areas were asked to draw up plans to improve bus services – and state funding would be allocated based on the “level of ambition shown”.
Of the areas funded on Monday, the North East and North of Tyne received the largest amount at £163.5million.
Other successful areas include West of England and North Somerset (£105.5m), Greater Manchester (£94.8m), the West Midlands (£87.9m), Hertfordshire (£29.7m). ), Luton (£19.1m) and Central Bedfordshire (£3.7m).
As well as getting £11.3m for its improvement plans, Cornwall is also getting £23.5m for a pilot scheme that will see bus fares cut, with longer journeys costing up to 40% less.
Announcing the funding, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Buses are the most popular mode of transport in this country – but for too long people outside of London have gotten a bad deal.”
He said the investment would “reduce fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England”.
However, Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “The Tories have admitted that large parts of the country will not see a penny to improve their appallingly poor bus services.
“Conservatives have cut promised funding and dramatically downgraded the ambitions of many local communities.”
The bus and coach industry’s federation, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said the announcement was “an important milestone” but warned that “millions of passengers would be disappointed” because their region missed out.
Paul Tuohy, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Upgrading buses in a minority of places does not deliver on the promise of a national bus strategy, although it will be very welcome locally.”
The group said only 40% of agencies that submitted plans would benefit from some of the funding.
Councilor Cecilia Motley of Shropshire Council – which has missed out on funding – said the council believes it has made a strong offer.
“We will of course work with our MPs to get clarification from the government as to why our application was ignored and what we could have done differently,” she said.
The Government has also confirmed £150m will be made available to help bus services recover from low passenger numbers during the pandemic.
A spokesman said that of the £3bn promised for the bus strategy, just over £2.4bn has already been committed.
He said this included £525m to increase the number of zero-emission buses, £600m as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and a further £100m pot for local improvements, including the pilot in Cornwall.
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