LTP 2006 Appendices

The Importance of Bus Services

Over 90% of public transport use in the Metropolitan Area is by bus.  Buses carry about one million passengers every weekday, of which 75% do not have access to a car.  Hundreds of thousands of people are therefore dependent on bus services for their everyday travel needs.  People in some parts of the Metropolitan Area are more dependent than others, for example up to three-quarters of all households in the Aston and Sparkhill areas of Birmingham do not have a car.

Car ownership levels in the Metropolitan Area are far lower than comparable conurbations in mainland Europe.  Whilst traffic congestion is a problem now, the forecasts for traffic with a ‘do nothing’ approach are far worse.  With increased prosperity, many existing bus users aspire to car ownership and there will be a worsening effect on congestion if this translates into increased car use, especially if during peak periods.  Therefore, the image of bus services must be transformed from the poor image it has with many sectors to a genuine mode of choice, particularly at busy times.

A key objective of such an approach is to retain existing users, particularly for peak period journeys, as they gain access to a car for the first time.  Bus services need to promote social inclusion, by enabling people without a car to  reach destinations easily.  Operators need to seek to maintain and then increase their transport market share.

New Context

The West Midlands Multi Modal Study (WMAMMS) Report set out key recommendations for buses.  It recommended that the current programme of Showcase routes should be expanded and that thirty such routes should be in place within ten years.  In the next slightly longer phase, WMAMMS recommended that a network of Super Showcase routes, representing a significant improvement in provision, is needed.  Such routes are often defined as Bus Rapid Transit or 'buses that think they are trams'.  The Report goes on to propose that the majority of the strategic urban bus network in thirty years' time should comprise Super Showcase routes totalling approximately 380 kilometres.  In addition, cross-boundary Showcase routes, totalling about 170 kilometres, should be improved and extend out of the Metropolitan Area to outlying peripheral towns.

Over the last year, further technical assessments have been undertaken of the feasibility of developing the bus network in the way that WMAMMS recommended.  This work has included the trialing of a number of specific priority measures and desktop designs of potential Super Showcase routes.  It has identified that it is impractical to develop a complete network of Super Showcase by 2015 because there are fewer corridors suitable for such treatment than WMAMMS had suggested and the timescales for delivering such projects, which are likely to involve property acquisition and compulsory purchase, were overly optimistic.

The new approach is set out in detail in the revised Bus Strategy which accompanies the LTP2.  It is based on a more measured and balanced approach to these recommendations, alongside an increased recognition of the need to improve bus services in local areas away from the main network to help improve the quality of life of people on low incomes by assisting access to employment opportunities and other facilities.

Centro has received Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (some £142,945 in 2004/05) since 2000/01.  This has been used to establish and support the Heart of England taxibus service, a demand responsive flexibly routed service in the Meriden Gap between Solihull and Coventry which, as well as being available to the general public, replicates the Ring & Ride service for the disabled that is available in the urban parts of the Metropolitan Area.  Additionally, RBSG meets most of the cost of services 173 and 676 which are the only local bus services in the Dickens Heath area of South Solihull.  It is also used to make contributions to several Warwickshire contracted local bus services that operate into the Metropolitan Area, demonstrating our commitment to working in partnership with adjacent authorities.   Alternative funds secured by the Bus Strategy from Centro’s revenue generating initiatives will further support this and other similar initiatives.

Role of the Bus

The bus will continue to be the main provider of public transport in the Metropolitan Area.  Its role in delivering LTP2 objectives is therefore fundamental.  The key opportunities to meet these objectives are set out below.

The Bus Strategy seeks the development of a 'turn up and go' network and local area services to improve public transport.  It includes operational, information and selective highway improvements aimed at assisting specific local objectives such as increased vitality and viability of centres and helping improve accessibility to brownfield employment and housing sites.  This will bring improved conditions for bus users and the community in general.

Reflecting proposals in the revised Bus Strategy, the overall LTP2 strategy includes a continuing programme of investment in infrastructure and traffic management / bus priority schemes for the bus network including Showcase, together with other measures such as Ring & Ride.  The primary purpose will be achieving increased accessibility for people who do not use a car and to increase the attractiveness of bus services and make them a mode of choice for people who might otherwise use a car.  The objectives and resulting actions follow Government Guidance on issues that should be covered in a Bus Strategy.

To fulfil its role in the urban renaissance of the Metropolitan Area, the revised Bus Strategy contains three overarching objectives:

• To transfer some car use to public transport in the Metropolitan Area at busy times to reduce congestion and, at other times, to maintain public transport’s universality and commercial viability
• To enable people without access to a car to reach easily a wide range of education, training and employment opportunities
• To enable people without access to a car to reach easily a wide range of shopping, service, health, leisure, community and entertainment opportunities

To achieve the above objectives, the revised Bus Strategy outlines a vision of the quality required for bus travel by 2011 with tangible service improvements across the whole Area that offer a real alternative to car use.  This will require concerted action in four key areas, namely:

• Local Area Bus schemes
• Interchange and District / Local Centre Upgrades
• Showcase / Super Showcase routes
• Complementary measures including improved information and safety and security

Current Policies

A Bus Policy document 'From Workhorse to Thoroughbred: A better role for bus travel' was published by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions in March 1999.  This contained a number of new policy initiatives which included a new framework for local authority involvement, statutory backing for Quality Partnerships and better bus information. 

On a local level, WMPTA / Centro and other stakeholders are keen to see that national objectives and targets contained in the WMPTA / Centro 20-Year Public Transport Strategy can be delivered in the Metropolitan Area.  As part of ongoing discussions with the Government, primarily through the Bus Partnership Forum, possible legislative changes are being considered.  In this respect, the Department for Transport is seeking to implement changes to legislation on bus services, through a Regulatory Reform Order, including a proposal to allow the leasing of buses by Passenger Transport Executives to operators of contracted services.  Also, guidance has also been issued on the procedure to be followed in applying for a Quality Contracts scheme, which supplements the detail outlined in the Transport Act 2000.

Pressure to deliver improvements to bus services will continue, especially with the predicted increase in the levels of car ownership.  It is expected that there will be further work undertaken by the Government and the stakeholders in the bus industry to find the right policies that will meet the aspirations of current bus users and non-users.

Consultation

Consultation on the 20-Year Public Transport Strategy highlighted improvement areas for bus provision in the Metropolitan Area.  As part of this process, focus groups were established which uniformly identified the following key features for priority improvement as:

• Frequency
• Reliability
• Affordability
• Information
• Personal Security
• Integration

Recurring key themes from public consultation undertaken across the Metropolitan Area include the need to improve bus services, particularly their reliability and image; and the need to improve bus information and support for schemes such as the Outer Circle Showcase.  Public consultation gave strong support for greater investment in public transport, in a balanced manner with bus, Metro and rail schemes all meriting funding.  The need for better integration and the need for more co-ordination with other initiatives were also cited.

The revised Bus Strategy has been subject to extensive consultation in line with the requirements of the Transport Act 2000.  The document was sent out to a number of consultees including Transport Users Advisory Committees, environmental groups, bus operators, business, local authorities and members of the public.  Market research through focus groups was also undertaken to ensure that the strategy responded to users and potential users’ aspirations.

The 2004 and 2005 LTP2 consultations asked specifically about the Bus Showcase network and the outcomes showed that this was a 'high' priority in a strategic context  when ranked against a range of other modal issues.

Strategy

Building on the progress achieved to date, the revised Bus Strategy was refocused to take into account the issues and trends outlined in previous sections and to respond to WMAMMS which seeks substantial bus improvements, including Super Showcase routes, with extensive bus priority accompanied by traffic management measures such as ‘Red Routes’. 

This Bus Strategy has a vision of the quality required for bus travel by 2011.  This scenario is one where everyone can see far reaching tangible bus service improvements across the whole Metropolitan Area that offer a real alternative to car use.  This will require concerted action in three key themes, namely:

• Theme 1 - Service Delivery:  This theme aims to provide and maintain reliable, attractive and accessible high quality bus services for the people in the Metropolitan Area
• Theme 2 - User Confidence:  This theme aims to create and maintain an environment with the right level of information, customer care and safety that allows people in the Metropolitan Area to take advantage of bus transport
• Theme 3 - Infrastructure and Schemes:  This theme aims to develop and maintain high quality infrastructure and schemes (including bus priorities), which are convenient and attractive to the people in the Metropolitan Area and the service providers

To meet people’s travel requirements more effectively, buses have to form part of an integrated public transport network.  The concept of an integrated 'Network West Midlands' is being introduced progressively across the whole Area as part of the wider LTP2 objectives.  Concept maps of how 'Network West Midlands' might look in the short and longer term, with the development of Super Showcase, more Metro lines and improved rail services, have been produced.  These are based on the approach that many European cities use to portray their integrated public transport networks using, for example local rail for longer distances into and across the Area and bus and Metro services for short and medium distance links.

A key part of the Bus Strategy is to implement the 'Network West Midlands' concept.  This will be achieved through a number of the Bus Strategy policies including improved bus shelters and stops, information and ticketing.  Establishment of the 'Network West Midlands' brand is a priority in the Bus Strategy.

Other improvements are also required to help meet customer requirements over the strategy period.  This includes:

• Easy-to-understand information at all stops; an enhanced comprehensive telephone / internet inquiry service
• A series of personal security measures to reduce concerns over getting to / waiting at stops, using buses, particularly for women and the elderly
• Complementary measures particularly tailored to retaining young people as public transport users after they leave school

Implementing the Strategy

To achieve the 20-year Public Transport Strategy, a wide range of measures need to be implemented over the LTP2 period and beyond.  It is important however to state clear priorities for the LTP2 period and the implementation approach that is expected to be achieved through the revised Bus Strategy.  These priorities include:

• Developing a cohesive public transport image to encourage increased use of public transport
• Providing a bus network that is easy to understand by all members of the community
• Bringing the required operational improvements to establish comprehensive bus coverage and links to assist with the economic revitalisation of the area
• Ensuring that buses are comfortable, accessible and well maintained and vehicle design is compatible with current infrastructure design
• Improving reliability, frequency and journey times through bus priority measures at localised sites (spotlight schemes) whole bus routes (as part of Showcase routes)
• Introducing better management of the highway network through revenue measures such as 'highway managers', improved parking restrictions, enforcement and IT solutions

Making the whole journey experience as attractive as possible underpins the strategy, recognising that journeys usually start from home with the need for understandable and accurate information and a pleasant walking to the bus stop, as well as the more obvious factors of bus stop location and facilities, vehicle quality and reliability and access to desired destinations.  The Bus Showcase Handbook, which is currently being revised taking into account lessons learnt, deals with this as well most other factors that help accessibility to and attractiveness of bus services

An important issue to all bus users is bus stop location.  It can sometimes be a contentious issue amongst local residents when existing stops are moved or new ones introduced.  Since the de-regulation of local bus services in 1986, operators have the ability to locate bus stops in line with how they believe they can best satisfy customer needs, subject to consultation with the local highway authority and police to consider safety issues.  The regular spacing of bus stops is also important to maximise access to bus services.  Ideally all stops would be located as close as possible to local facilities and in locations that have natural surveillance in order to minimise the fear of crime.  This is an important consideration in maintaining patronage and assuring new passengers that local bus services are safe to use.

The only practicable way of achieving the objectives of the Bus Strategy and LTP2, using current legislation, is considered to be through the use of Quality Bus Contracts.  However, getting Quality Bus Contracts in place will be time consuming, perhaps taking five years to achieve across the Metropolitan Area.

It is recognised that much of the current bus network has been in place for many years and that, during those years, there have been radical changes to land use patterns in many parts of the Metropolitan Area.  Looking to the future, it will be necessary to review how bus routes and services can best serve needs and desires, particularly in line with outcomes from Accessibility Planning work.

In the meantime, we will be working with all stakeholders to implement the Bus Strategy which has been revised to grow bus patronage from the 2003/04 level of 325 million passenger journeys to 355 million per annum by 2010/11.  This will require close working between the PTA / Centro, local authorities and bus companies to achieve improvements in the short term.

Lack of revenue funding could be a factor in preventing the revised Bus Strategy from being successful and this will need to be addressed by all partners in the bus industry, through discussions with the Government.

Targets

Bus patronage has been in long-term decline over the last forty years.  In 1980, just over 500 million passenger journeys were made by bus in the Metropolitan Area.  Patronage has declined since and, although there were signs of a trend reversal in the late 1990s, only 325 million passenger journeys were made in 2003/04.

Although this trend is unfortunate, it is important to recognise that bus patronage in the Metropolitan Area is at a high level, in terms of annual number of trips per person, compared to other parts of the country.  Furthermore, regional statistics show that the West Midlands is well above average when comparing annual bus trips per person set against levels of household car availability.

In many cases the bus is only used if there is no other alternative because the car is considered easier and more convenient to use.  Many existing bus passengers will acquire a car in the foreseeable future, adding to the challenge we face.  Car ownership in the West Midlands increased in the last decade, as illustrated below, and there is no evidence that this trend is not continuing through this decade.

Despite the decrease in the total number of bus passenger journeys and the increase in car use, significant increases in bus patronage have been recorded on main bus corridors where bus priority measures and better facilities have been introduced.  These improvements have been accompanied by significant private-sector bus operator investment in new low-floor buses, route branding and customer-care driver training.  For example, the Tyburn Road Showcase saw a 7% increase in patronage during 2001/02, which contributed to a 38% growth over four years.  The Line 33 Showcase experienced a 29% patronage increase in its first year of operation and patronage continued to grow by a further 23% between 1997 and 2001 (an average of just under 5% per year).  Both routes have generated between 3% to 5% car transfers.

In future, improvements implemented through this Bus Strategy, in particular the impact of Network West Midlands branding, in conjunction with bus vehicle quality improvements, bus priorities, Red Routes, Super Showcase and increased traffic management enforcement, are designed to create a virtuous circle of increased use, increased investment, improved services, increased use and so on.

The principal LTP2 and Bus Strategy target (BVPI102) is to:

• Increase bus use from the 2003/04 base of 325 million trips per year to 355 million by 2010/11.

The LTP2 also contains the following targets:

• BVPI104: achieve levels of bus satisfaction of more than 60% by 2009/10, and;

• 83% of bus services operating between “1 minute early and 5 minutes late” by 2010/11

Additionally, the Bus Strategy contains Bus Performance Targets, as follows:

• 92% of the Metropolitan built-up area to be within 250 metres of a stop with a weekday daytime service by 2006
• 97% of bus services to operate within five minutes of publicised times.
• On routes where buses run at least every ten minutes, no more than 5% of service intervals should exceed 1.5 times the published service interval by 2011
• Improve morning peak (08:00 - 09:00) bus speeds relative to private car speeds on completed Bus Showcase corridors
• Reduce the chances of being involved in a 'criminal' incident while travelling by public transport by 20% by 2011.

Projects and Programme

Key elements of the proposed programme include:

• The Coventry Quality Bus network
• Area based Quality Bus Partnerships
• Showcase Network development
• Bus Rapid Transit pilots
• Improved At-stop Information
• Safety and Security initiatives including the introduction of a Police Transit Unit
• Community Transport schemes
• Local Estate Improvement schemes
• Further extension of Real Time information provision
• Bus Stations and Interchange improvement programme

Details of the proposed programme will be influenced by the outcomes arising from the current Accessibility Planning work.

More detail can be found in the Bus Strategy that accompanies this LTP2.