Committee

Merseytravel Committee

6 April 2017

Present: Councillor L Robinson, Chair Councillor G Friel, Deputy Chair

Councillors R Abbey, D Barrington, A Carr, J Dodd, G Flatley, S Foulkes, H Howard, K McGlashan, P McKinley, N Nicholas, M Rasmussen, K Roberts, L Rowlands, J Stockton, P Thomas, J Williams and J Wolfson

Apologies for absence were submitted by Councillor T Shields

63. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest received.

64. Minutes of the Last Meeting

Resolved that the minutes of the last meeting held on 2 March 2017 be approved as a correct record.

65. Presentation

The Committee considered a presentation from Howard Farrall, Area Managing Director of Arriva with regard to their operations.

Councillor Robinson thanked Mr Farrall for the presentation and referred to a previous meeting he had attended whereby he was questioned about the price of travel for young people. As the Committee were aware, this issue reached a satisfactory conclusion shortly after the meeting and he hoped that any matters that arose during the discussion today could be resolved in a similar manner.

Councillor Abbey referred to the challenge that Arriva Merseyside faced with achieving the company’s

Merseytravel Committee

commercial interests but also fulfilling the commitments of the City Region Bus Alliance (the Alliance). One particular example was fares as Arriva had recently announced a fare increase, however, this went against the aims of the Alliance. He went on to commend the Alliance’s achievement of almost 10% passenger growth and asked what Arriva’s plans were to support future growth.

Mr Farrall replied that the previous two years had been a great success and the growth was predominantly from child tickets. This had been achieved without the assistance of a marketing strategy, which now approved would allow the successes of the Alliance and the investment made to be promoted. With regard to the comments on fares, this had to be carefully balanced as profit was required to enable further investment. In order to achieve continued growth, the Alliance had set further targets and although these were ambitious all partners would strive to meet them. In relation to franchising, Mr Farrall advised that this did not concern him, although partnerships would be the operator’s preferred arrangement.

Councillor Abbey further questioned how the operator could justify offering discounts on some tickets, with only certain passengers benefitting, but increasing fares overall; particularly when Arriva had benefitted from low fuel prices over recent years and an increase in patronage. Mr Farrall agreed that the increase in the age of young person’s travel to 19 had generated significant growth, specifically 80% for Arriva Merseyside; however this equated to a 120% discount on the original ticket price. As mentioned previously the matter of fares was a balancing act and the operator required more than 80% growth to break even on such a massive discount. In response to the comments regarding fuel, the prices were fixed for three years but it was labour that was the biggest outlay, with these costs equating to 55%. Arriva had also made significant investment over the past three years spending £70 million on new vehicles, which had not been matched by any other operator in the country outside of .

In response to a question from Councillor Williams regarding Arriva Merseyside’s willing to enter into discussions with Merseytravel regarding the introduction of short hop fares, due to the expense of flat fares for some passengers, Mr Farrall advised that he would have no objections. The operator recognised that short

Merseytravel Committee

journeys were expensive but flat fares provided great value for longer journeys and were easier for customers and drivers. He reminded the Committee that regular travellers benefitted from purchasing a weekly ticket.

Councillor Foulkes referred to the cross river bus services, which were the most expensive mode of travelling between Liverpool and Wirral. These services had seen an increase in passengers due to the on-going loop line closures and he asked whether consideration had been given to reducing the fares and retaining the new passengers once the loop was fully operational.

Mr Farrall once again referred to the weekly ticket, which at £17 provided better value for those who travelled regularly. It was acknowledged that ad-hoc users would not benefit from this and the operator had tried to mitigate the impact on these passengers by recently reducing the day ticket from £5.30 to £4.60.

Councillor Friel enquired as to whether Arriva Merseyside would consider the introduction of ‘dial a ride’ services for the more isolated communities as other operators had done throughout the country. Mr Farrall informed the Committee that Arriva had recently started a Demand Responsive Transport Scheme in the Southern Counties, which was still very much in the infancy stage, but if successful other areas would look to introduce the same. There were also other options that could be considered, for example mini bus operations in rural areas of which could be booked similar to a taxi were being considered in rural areas of Cheshire.

Councillor Friel further enquired as to the operator’s plans for an increase in the introduction of greener vehicles and Mr Farrall advised that provided that further funding was available from the Department for Transport both Arriva and their parent company were keen to continue to do this. A substantial amount of work was put into the bid for the hybrid buses and the operator was very successful in obtaining funding to introduce 51 hybrid buses onto the network. Future funding, however, would not stop continued investment in the fleet which was critical to the success of the operation.

In response to a question from Councillor Wolfson regarding the performance of the 24 hour 86A route and whether there were plans to introduce 24 hour operation on any other routes, Mr Farrall replied that patronage was dependent on students. During university holidays the

Merseytravel Committee

service was not well used and as a result he was not convinced that the introduction of the same would be successful on other routes.

Councillor Rasmussen commented that the fare package introduced for young people had been massively successful and was the main contributor towards the achievement of the Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance’s 9% passenger growth. The MyTicket was a simple to understand offer and highlighted the importance of simplicity when trying to encourage growth. She enquired how the same methodology would be applied to encourage adult growth and what plans there were to make travel more affordable for the 19 -21 age range.

It was Mr Farrall’s opinion that the 19-23 age range should be the next target for the Alliance. The increase in age of the young person’s ticket to 19 was a huge risk but it paid off and the focus for this next age range was to encourage retention of passengers once they left education and had other transport choices. The risk would once again be significant but would also need to be carried out taking commercial considerations into account.

Councillor Flatley highlighted one of the pledges of the Labour candidate for the Liverpool City Region Mayor, which was to tackle fares for those in apprenticeships and introduce the same offer as students. Mr Farrall advised that Arriva Merseyside recognised the importance of apprenticeships for the Liverpool City Region and the economy; their Business to Business Manager would be looking at the introduction of a discount. This was also an important matter for the Alliance.

Councillor Howard enquired and received clarification that Mr Farrall’s area did not include Halton. He further referred to the recently introduced consolidated fares, which had not included Halton due to the disruption caused by the construction of the Mersey Gateway and asked whether they would apply once the bridge was opened. Mr Farrall advised that the construction of the bridge had significantly disrupted travel around the area and affected bus services but the decision regarding consolidated fares could be re-assessed following completion of the project. This could maybe be a decision of the Alliance or as part of a business case developed by Arriva following the recovery of services.

Merseytravel Committee

Following another enquiry from Councillor Howard regarding the possible introduction of an Arriva Managing Director for the Liverpool City Region, Mr Farrall felt that in the long term it would be appropriate to include Halton in the structure but was not in a position to comment on the specifics of what this would entail.

Councillor McGlashan mentioned the importance of seamless integration between buses and trains and Mr Farrall acknowledged that this perhaps was not as co- ordinated as it should be; however work was planned to resolve this. would be working closely with bus operators to improve the links between timetables; high frequency train and bus routes would be relatively easy to co-ordinate, however it was the less frequent services in rural areas that would be more difficult and these would be given priority. Ticketing would be key to interoperability and work would also be done regarding this. On a local level Arriva Merseyside would be collaborating with Merseyrail to improve the co- ordination of timetables.

Councillor Stockton raised concerns about the proposed 10% increase to MyTicket. This would seriously affect families on a low income and could potentially impede the growth that had been achieved. He strongly urged for this to be re-considered. Mr Farrall appreciated the concern; however the £2 cost had been sustained for three years and could not be continued long term. To put the increase into context it was 10% on a day ticket not a single ticket. He could not give assurance that the proposed increase would not happen as increases were necessary in order to invest in and strengthen the network.

Councillor Nicholas commended Arriva Merseyside’s turnover and was pleased to see that the operator carried 74 million passengers on their services. She also referred to the timing of buses and stated that there had been some occasions where she had waited 45 minutes for a bus in the wider Merseyside area and asked whether complaints were made about this matter. This could be a deterrent to some people using bus and she enquired as to what was being done to improve the reliability of services.

Mr Farrall acknowledged that punctuality and reliability was the most important factor for customers when using bus and complaints were received about this. There were some occasions when it was the fault of the operator,

Merseytravel Committee

which required rectifying; early running for example was a particular matter that was taken seriously and not tolerated by the company. Equally there were also times when the operator was not at fault, such as delays caused roadworks. Punctuality and reliability was a priority for the Alliance and key routes requiring intervention had been identified; Edge Lane for example was causing major problems for the operators at present.

Councillor Nicholas further enquired about the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) and Mr Farrall advised that Arriva fully supported RTI and the availability of this technology was important, particularly for lower frequency services. This was one of the ‘Milestones’ of the Alliance and would be prioritised based on the routes that required it first.

With regards to the termination points of services, Councillor Carr highlighted a particular location in Melling where the 345 service terminated in a small side road. Roads such as this were not designed to accommodate this activity and he suggested that the route be extended to terminate at the nearest major hub at Kirkby. Alternatively he suggested the operator work with the local Highways Authority to discuss the impacts and possible solutions.

Mr Farrall advised that as a bus operator, Arriva did not discuss specific details with the Highways Authorities. The 345 service referred to was only just commercially viable with its current route; therefore an extension to Kirkby would not cover the costs of the vehicle used. He agreed that the terminus point of the service was an issue but at this moment was unfortunately unable to offer an alternative.

The operator did not run many services in Kirkby and Councillor Flatley enquired as to whether there were any proposals to change this. Mr Farrall advised that the recent Network Review in Kirkby had highlighted opportunities throughout the area and introducing more services would be considered.

Councillor Robinson referred to the good deals offered to regular commuters through the weekly and monthly tickets; however for those irregular travellers these products did not provide savings. He recommended the introduction of carnet tickets with suitable discounts to attract customers who may not usually travel by bus. Mr Farrall informed the Committee that Arriva Merseyside

Merseytravel Committee

was developing a range of tickets for the Walrus platform, one of which would be a carnet of solo day tickets. The operator had to be mindful of the balance between the commercial price and the value of the ticket, particularly as day tickets were already discounted and could not be discounted further. It was however appreciated that the offer also had to be attractive enough to encourage customers. A decision was yet to be made on the duration of the carnet tickets but it was thought that three days was a good starting point. These tickets allowed passengers to use as and when required and offered the flexibility that the weekly and monthly tickets did not.

Councillor Robinson further referred to the on-going Network Reviews, which aimed to improve and simplify the bus network. Merseytravel was undertaking this with a limited budget and he asked whether there was the option to work with the bus operators to reduce the deminimus payments they received from Merseytravel, as these were only supposed to be a short term arrangement. Mr Farrall advised that consideration could be given to this and he was of the understanding that these arrangements should be reviewed by Merseytravel every 12 months.

With regard to the Buses Bill and the opportunities it presented for franchising and enhanced partnerships, Councillor Robinson enquired as to what the operator would offer under an enhanced partnership arrangement. Mr Farrall felt that a good relationship based on trust had formed between Merseytravel and Arriva Merseyside over the past 10 years. This trust was important and would be a good foundation for a partnership, which in his opinion was the best option as it would enable the operator to deliver what Merseytravel wanted whilst still maintaining their commercial interests.

Councillor Robinson thanked Mr Farrall for attending the meeting and highlighted the matters raised throughout the discussion that were to be given further consideration; short hop fares, Demand Responsive Transport and fares for the 19-23 age group and apprentices. Merseytravel would be happy to assist with any of those matters and the Committee looked forward to welcoming Mr Farrall back for an update in the near future.

Resolved that the contents of the presentation and the ensuing discussion be noted.

Merseytravel Committee

66. Improving the Bus Offer for the Liverpool City Region

The Committee considered a report of Merseytravel regarding progress made over the past year in improving the bus offer for the Liverpool City Region, in particular the achievements the first year of the Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance.

Councillor Abbey suggested that significant work was needed to the Arriva app as it was not the most reliable. Information advising passengers on the reasons why services were delayed would be a welcome addition. As an aside he commended the bus operators for the work they were doing with Merseytravel on the Alliance. He also expressed admiration for the Merseytravel Bus Team who undertook a significant amount of work for a small team and he thanked them for this and for the support they offered to Elected Members and in particular to him in his role as Lead Member for Bus.

Councillor Friel commended the 9.7% increase in patronage that had been achieved by the Alliance. This partnership had proven to be really successful and was leading the way for the rest of the country. He further referred to the range of ticketing products on offer and suggested that this be simplified, especially for the benefit of visitors to the City Region. Lastly he re-iterated an earlier point made during the previous item regarding the great investment in greener vehicles and hoped to see this continue.

Councillor Abbey left the meeting

The Head of Bus agreed with the comments relating to the range of products currently on offer and work was on- going to remove the historical ticketing areas in order to simplify the offer and allow for improved communication of what was available. With regard to investment in vehicles, as Mr Farrall mentioned earlier this was dependent on funding. There was the ambition to increase the number of greener vehicles on the network and Merseytravel would be working with the bus operators on this.

Councillor Stockton added that carbon neutral buses were essential and strongly expressed the need for as

Merseytravel Committee

many bids as possible to be submitted for these vehicles. It was important to reduce the carbon footprint wherever possible.

Councillor Thomas referred to the Transport Focus Bus Passenger Survey and expressed disappointment that there were no questions regarding those with reduced mobility, especially given the recent court ruling relating to wheelchair spaces on buses. She asked that this be included in next year’s survey. The Head of Bus advised that although the survey was standardised Merseytravel did have the opportunity to request additional questions and would raise this with Transport Focus.

With further reference to the Supreme Court judgement there were concerns rasied amongst the Committee that although clear in some aspects there was still some uncertainty surrounding it. It was suggested that an Alliance approach be developed in order to ensure consistency across local bus services. This approach was welcomed by the representatives of Arriva and Stagecoach who were present at the meeting.

Resolved that:-

(a) the contents of the report be noted; and

(b) a report on the progress of the Bus Alliance be submitted to the next meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

67. Bus Infrastructure Policy

The Committee considered a report of Merseytravel regarding the Bus Infrastructure Policy, which had been produced to guide the development and renewal of bus stop infrastructure across Merseyside.

Resolved that the Bus Infrastructure Policy be endorsed.

68. Real Time Information Policy

The Committee considered a report of Merseytravel regarding the provision of a Real Time Information (RTI) policy for the bus network, which was intended to guide and inform the decisions and approach taken in respect of the deployment of RTI across Merseyside.

Merseytravel Committee

Councillor Friel sought and received clarification that the phase out of screens would not be done in advance of the move towards greater use of web-based technology.

Councillor Nicholas welcomed the report and looked forward to the introduction of the new technology.

Councillor Rasmussen commended the report and in particular the Equality and Diversity Implications section, which was appropriately detailed and she hoped it would be replicated in all future reports.

In response to a question from Councillor Carr regarding whether any companies other than CCUK had been approached about sponsorship, Officers advised that CCUK had exclusivity due to the contract Merseytravel had with them.

Resolved that the Real Time Information Policy be endorsed.

69. Merseytravel Walrus - Card Activation Fee

The Committee considered a report of Merseytravel regarding the current status of the production cost of Walrus cards and the introduction of a card activation fee aimed at managing this cost.

Councillor Friel referred to 6.2 of the report and sought assurance that Officers would not allow the current stock of cards to run out before the implementation date of the activation fee. The Director of Corporate Development confirmed that this had been identified as a possible risk and although an earlier implementation date had been considered it was not possible due to audit requirements and the work that would have to be undertaken with PayPoint to train their retailers.

Councillor Carr welcomed the proposed fee and the responsibility on the holder to retain the card for future use. He also enquired whether the cards could be registered to an individual and was advised that there were plans for each card to have a unique identifier which, was not mandatory, but would link to the Walrus portal and allow personal details to be entered.

Councillor Nicholas also welcomed the fee. She further commended the success of Walrus and the volume of cards that had been issued since it was launched in

Merseytravel Committee

2015, and thanked the team for the work that had been done on the project.

Also in favour of the fee was Councillor Stockton who hoped that it would encourage card retention. He further commended the Director of Corporate Development and the team for their work and for the number of products that were now available on the Walrus platform.

Resolved that the activation fee of £1 for all new Walrus cards issued, with a target implementation date of August 2017, subject to operational and financial planning, be approved.

70. 2017-18 Corporate Plan and Performance Reporting Process

The Committee considered a report of Merseytravel regarding the Merseytravel Corporate Plan for 2017/18.

Following requests from Members for the inclusion of ‘sustainable’ in Merseytravel’s mission and for the references to Transport for the North, Rail North and the Bus Alliance to be made clearer, Officers advised that these would be taken into account prior to publication of the Plan.

Resolved that the 2017/18 Merseytravel Corporate Plan and associated reporting process be endorsed.

CHAIR

This page is intentionally left blank Page 1 Page Arriva for your whole journey Minute Item 65 Arriva Group

Our journey began in 1938 when the Cowie family opened a second-hand motorcycle shop in – little did we know then it would be the first chapter in an incredible story that

Page 2 Page would see us grow to become a pan- European operator.

Today Arriva is one of the largest providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing more than 60,000 people and delivering more than 2.2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year. Our operations

Our scale and expertise mean that we can operate a range of transport modes across our group: Page 3 Page

Bus Trains Water Bus Trams & Metros Cars & Ambulance

• Local, commercial services • Inter-city services • Canal/harbour buses • Joint ventures • Non-emergency patient • Contracted services • Rural, commuter lines • Contracted services • Contracts transport • School services • Long distance mainlines • Station management • Special educational needs transport • Tendered services • Station management • Under/Overground • Social care transport • Under/Overground • Maintenance • Maintenance Where we operate

We work in a variety of different environments and have a wealth of experience of different transport markets:

Croatia Portugal 270 employees, 125 buses. 5,800 employees, 3,455 buses, 18 trains, 126 trams

Page 4 Page Czech Republic 3,100 employees, 1,960 buses, Serbia 5 trains 770 employees, 295 buses Denmark Slovakia 3,800 employees, 1,180 buses, 2,390 employees, 1,335 buses 43 trains, 400 cars, 4 waterbuses Slovenia Hungary 980 employees, 550 buses 1,170 employees, 420 buses Spain Italy 900 employees, 455 buses 3,330 employees, 2,350 buses, Sweden 6 trams, 4 waterbuses 3,190 employees, 755 buses, Netherlands 161 trains, 51 trams 3,500 employees, 1,020 buses, UK 101 trains, 13 waterbuses 29,500 employees, 5,250 buses, Poland 769 trains, 450 patient transport 1,300 employees, 700 buses, 26 trains vehicles Arriva UK Bus

With a fleet of 5,250 buses, Arriva is one of the largest operators in the UK, providing services in London, the north east and Yorkshire, north west and south east of , the midlands and Wales. Page 5 Page The Geography & Wales

£163 million Turnover 1019 Buses Page 6 Page 2591 Drivers 286 Engineers 241 Other 14 Garages (plus 4 Outstations)

6 Page 7 Page

Arriva Merseyside Arriva Merseyside

TURNOVER £110 Million EMPLOYEES 2,057

FLEET 659 TOTAL PASSENGERS CARRIED 74 Million Page 8 Page

8 Arriva Merseyside Special Events

Southport Flower Show Park & Ride 1998-2017 Grand National Park & Ride 2000-2017 BTR Liverpool Half Marathon 2006-2017 Liverpool Airport “Airside Shuttle” 2007 & 2016

Page 9 Page Park & Ride – Tall Ships 2008 Creamfields Shuttle Service 2008-2017 Slabtrack – Liverpool Rail Replacement 2017 Sound City 2015 & 2016 Merseyrail Electrics Call-out Contract 2015 & 2016

9 Plans

Dynamic Page 10 Page Management Contingencies Page 11 Page Calendar of Events

Weekends different Football games ETC Lime Street closure Page 12 Page Support & Escalation Page 13 Page

Arriva Manager dedicated 0600 -1900 & weekends Direct contact phone (incoming calls only) Lead supervisor 0400 - 0600 & 1900 - 0100 Supervision

Dedicated team Continuity is key Radio contact Radio code Hi Viz Page 14 Page Drivers

Dedicated & hand picked Customer service is key 7 Hour Induction each Full route familiarisation Route learned to TBS Work as instructed

Page 15 Page Able to follow instruction Preparation & Delivery Page 16 Page Investment in 2017 - £23 Million Average age of Fleet - 5.8 years Page 17 Page

17 Arriva Northwest and Wales

Protecting our environment – Destination Green Page 18 Page

Working with our communities to deliver a better and easier to use bus service for all

Caring for our communities and helping them prosper Working with our sponsorship partners to deliver a robust community programme

Arts and Music Nurturing talent • Reader Foundation • Welsh RU Junior team • River Reeves Foundation • • Everyman Theatre • St Helens

Page 19 Page • boxing Caring for our community • Environmental Young people • Working with disability groups to make bus easier and • Welsh RU Junior team more reassuring • Widnes • Zoes Place • St Helens • Tranmere • schools football • Widnes • Dangerpoint Wales • St Helens • Liverpool One • North Wales Tourism Awards • Bangor, Rhyl, Marine, Town and Llandudno FC Marketing Initiatives Page 20 Page

20 Bringing these to life Reader Foundation River Reeves Foundation • Collaborative work for the Rosen Exhibition • Vinyling 4 buses around to mark • Donation of static bus for Calderstone Park to the anniversary of Viola Beach band members develop an adventure area by the Story Barn passing • Schools reading project utilising our schools • Supplying a working bus to be converted by liaison officers and working with trains Arriva into a Music Studio and Theatre bus to colleagues supply music tuition and recording facilities

Page 21 Page • Provision of non working buses to provide plus other arts based projects into schools for office accommodation disadvantaged communities • On-going collaboration to support socially • Supporting the River Reeves Rivfest 2017 at isolated individuals coming together at the Priestley College Reader foundation • Working with RRF on launching the River Rees Everyman Theatre School of performing Arts • Discussion around provision of buses for the • Provision of tickets for key projects Super Academy schools project in Warrington • Access to the Theatre bus – arts on the move – for key performances • Working with disadvantaged communities bringing arts and drama Bringing these to life Zoes Place Other partnerships • Continue to support Zoes place via a golf day to raise • Tapping into the CSR initiatives of our sponsorships to help much needed funds to support the charities aims support the local communities Tranmere

Page 22 Page • Preferred transport provider • Sponsoring the Café (Bus Stop?) and inviting communities in to learn healthy habits and developing a cooking academy • Supporting this with 2 Bus Kitchens which can be used to feed the homeless, at key events and at Christmas to bring Christmas to disadvantaged communities • Bringing Futsal to the area working with Tranmere People Update

 We currently have 21 apprentices and will be welcoming 5 more in 2017

 We currently have 2 graduates and will be welcoming 2 more in 2017 Page 23 Page  All of our drivers will receive Customer Service training through the partnership with the Alliance

 Our National MAD (Make a Difference) awards take place in April; 25 nominations were put forward for the North West, and we were shortlisted in 3 different categories

 Long Service Awards are currently given to staff who have completed 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and believe it or not – 50 years!

23 People Update

 Our Customer Survey results showed 3 North West garages placing in the top ten

 Our Employee Survey results continue to be the

Page 24 Page strongest across UK Bus with an average Employee Satisfaction score of 4 (out of 5)

 One of our highest rated questions in the Employee Survey results for the North West is “I understand what I can do to help deliver excellent service to our customers“. 90% of responded favourably to this question

24 Arriva’s New Brand Page 25 Page This page is intentionally left blank