EEC/09/85/HQ North Devon County Committee 24 March 2009
Exmoor National Park – Bus Services and Issues
Report of the Executive Director of Environment, Economy and Culture
Please note that the following recommendation is subject to consideration and determination by the Committee before taking effect.
Recommendation: It is recommended that this report is noted.
1. Summary
This report is in response to the request for information from the minutes of the Liaison Meeting with Exmoor National Park on 21 August 2008.
2. Background/Introduction
Key issues raised at the meeting on 21 August 2008 were: • work with Somerset on Minehead/Lynmouth/Dulverton/Tiverton bus services and the possibility of better links across the county boundary; • evening and Sunday services from Lynton/Lynmouth to Barnstaple; • the issue of bicycles on buses.
Devon County Council has worked hard at promoting partnership working across Devon, including with neighbouring counties and Unitaries, with many positive results. Unlike Dartmoor National Park, Exmoor National Park (ENP) currently provides no funding towards tourist bus services jointly funded with Devon, although ENP used to provide support until some years ago.
3. Minehead, Lynmouth, Dulverton, Tiverton Bus Services and Links Across the County Boundary
The Tiverton to Minehead bus service (398) is a Devon County Council administered contract, to which Somerset County Council contributes 60% of the cost. Since 2000 (with the start of Rural Bus Subsidy Grant) Devon and Somerset County Councils have jointly worked on making significant improvements to cross-boundary services as follows, all of which are supported by both Devon and Somerset:
• 398 (Minehead - Tiverton), 337 (Barnstaple - Taunton), • 25B (Dulverton - Bampton - Taunton), • 20 (Honiton - Taunton), • 300 (Minehead - Lynton/Lynton - Ilfracombe).
Further: • Service 92/92A, providing a cross-boundary link between Exeter/Tiverton and Taunton, is provided commercially. • In 2008 Somerset County Council piloted a supported Wednesday-only Service 401 between Dulverton and Lynmouth.
4. Evening and Sunday services from Lynton/Lynmouth to Barnstaple
All Devon-supported services are measured against current criteria (cost per passenger) for support to apply an element of consistency in respect of which services are supported. The matter of evening and Sunday services is frequently raised across the County; generally these services are not well used and tend to struggle to meet the criteria for support compared to the performance of other services.
The provision of evening and Sunday services on the 310 would require significant additional funding; past attempts at providing evening services since 1998 suffered from low patronage and therefore a high cost per passenger.
Lynton and Lynmouth to Barnstaple (Service 309/310) currently enjoys its best level of service ever, having been improved in 1998 with Rural Bus Subsidy Grant. At the request of Lynton & Lynmouth Town Council and the local County Councillor, there has been a thorough study of the potential for better bus/rail connections. In more detail this review covered the possibility of improvements in respect of:
- bus/train connections; - bus/National Express coach connections; - more evening/Sunday buses Barnstaple – Lynton/Lynmouth; - buses to Lee Abbey; - rerouting buses away from running via Walton Way and Bicton Street; - more buses on the 309 route; - more buses via North Devon District Hospital.
It is standard practice when we plan supported bus services to utilise vehicles and drivers to the full (including due allowance for statutory breaks); as a result there is little “slack” and it is almost inevitable that the addition of any new section of route could be accommodated only by:
(a) taking away a corresponding section somewhere else, or reducing running time, or (b) additional funding for adding to the resource (vehicle and driver) requirement.
The review concluded that:
(i) Significant additional funding (£10k upwards) would be required to extend the operating day, whether for evening services or to connect with the 1905 National Express from Birmingham arrival at Barnstaple.
(ii) Regular extensions to the Rail Station would require an additional bus to operate all day at a cost of approximately £100k. However as the route also serves North Devon College, which reduces the amount of route support required due to the extra patronage this generates, it would not be possible to have a regular timetable which serves the college and which has arrival departure times close to train times.
(iii) Removing the sections of route via Walton Way and Bicton Street would not release sufficient running time for additional buses to Lynmouth or Lee Abbey. The bus does pick up on these town sections. (iv) Additional buses on the 309/Hospital route could only be achieved by reducing the number of 310 journeys. Bratton Fleming on the 310 is a main generator of passengers and there are already occasional overloads at popular times which we could not risk worsening.
In summary, the review serves to emphasize why the bus runs as it does - to cater for the main demands within a currently affordable level of resources, and the need to avoid losing existing passenger trips.
The last bus departs from Lynton/Lynmouth to Barnstaple at 1838/1843 hrs, and from Barnstaple to Lynton at 1850 hrs; to put this in context, of the 28 Devon “towns”, 21 have bus services to neighbouring “towns” which end before 1900 hrs Monday-Saturday.
The application of Criteria (cost per passenger) in assessing supported routes has resulted in a significant degree of consistency across Devon. Exceptions to provide services outside the criteria on one route would make it more difficult to continue to be objective or consistent, and would risk creating precedents. The wider issue of evening travel applies equally across Devon, and raises the question whether the 28 towns should generally have later buses given that travel patterns, including those related to work and increasingly education and youth activities, are widening outside the traditional peak travel times - and how this can be funded.
5. Bicycles on Buses
Bicycles on buses have been tried by Devon County Council via the EU-funded Devon Bike Bus experiment. In spite of very high expectations, this was terminated due to its high cost in relation to usage and operational issues related to cycle capacity and storage. In spite of it being seen in some quarters as an apparently simple concept, the carriage of cycles on buses raises issues of safety, capacity and security, and sometimes driver licensing if considering a trailer. Other schemes operated elsewhere are of concern regarding the safety and legality of arrangements; with the operational problems and additional costs associated with carrying cycles we need to be clear that there is both significant demand and operational suitability, as well as full funding, before considering a scheme.
6. Conclusions
(i) DCC is in regular contact with Somerset County Council on cross boundary issues which has resulted in working together on the current cross boundary services. A series of joint SCC/ENPA/DCC meetings have recently taken place to look further at Exmoor services, with recommendations on better promotion and quality of services, and a review of scope for greater cross-border working of existing services. New services are likely to require additional funding.
(ii) Evening and Sunday provision between Lynton/Lynmouth and Barnstaple is at a level which is typical of services between other towns among the 28 Devon towns. Scope for increased evening and Sunday provision would require additional funding.
(iii) Scope for a bike bus scheme is likely to be limited and in need of continual subsidy without strong evidence of high demand, and additional funding would therefore also be required.
(iv) DCC applies criteria for supported bus services, which has resulted in a consistent countywide approach in regard to how bus services are provided, and how to balance additional requests for services. This is in the context of a finite budget constantly under pressure due to the consistently relatively high rate of transport inflation. Difficulties will arise if other services are provided which are well outside these criteria when lower cost services just outside the criteria may be at risk of review.
7. Financial Considerations
As this report is in response to a request to provide information, there are no financial implications involved.
Edward Chorlton
Electoral Divisions: All in North Devon
Local Government Act 1972
List of Background Papers
Contact for enquiries: Bruce Thompson
Room No. Matford Lane Offices
Tel No: (01392) 383244
Background Paper Date File Ref
1. Details on File January 2006 to April 2007 EXM/567
bt050309ndc sc/exmoor national park 2 hq 170309