Agenda Item 10(b)

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

15 October 2014

Overview of Centro Activities - September 2014

Report by Councillor Roger Horton

1. New buses for Sandwell

Sandwell’s largest bus operator, National Express , is investing in over 50 new buses for the borough worth over £9m. A number of new E400 double deck vehicles are already running on service 75, while 19 E200 single deck vehicles are also being delivered to operate on services predominantly in the West Bromwich, Stone Cross and Wednesbury areas. The British-made buses have been introduced as part of the Partnership Plus deal between Centro and National Express West Midlands to transform bus travel in the region. They will have the latest environmentally- friendly engines for lower emissions and will have CCTV systems with pictures being displayed on screens in the vehicles.

2. Cradley Heath Interchange

Work commenced on 28 September to develop a new exciting world class bus interchange at Cradley Heath. The new bus interchange will offer improved facilities including a new bright waiting area, modern toilets, electronic passenger information for bus and rail passengers and enhanced safety and security with CCTV and help points. Currently, some passengers have to catch their bus on Forge Lane outside the bus interchange. Upon completion, all passengers, for the first time, will be able to catch every bus within the bus interchange. There will also be a number of improvements that will help with accessibility. The £1.9m interchange is being paid for by the Better Bus Area Fund. Whilst work takes place bus services will be located nearby on Forge

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] Lane and Lower High Street. The rail station and Park and Ride car park will remain open for the duration of the work. As part of the scheme work is already underway on a £1.2 million bus priority and road improvement scheme in nearby Merry Hill. The Better Bus Area Fund scheme has also delivered new buses with audio visual displays, bus shelters and electronic passenger information screens complemented by marketing and ticketing initiatives.

3. Car Park Enforcement

Centro manage 59 car parks containing over 7,500 spaces across the Centro region. In Sandwell, Centro manage 17 car parks containing 2,317 spaces at rail and Metro stations, which are all free of charge to use. Following an increasing number of incidents where customers are blocked in and inappropriate parking has been identified Centro have introduced a not-for profit enforcement scheme designed to address indiscriminate and inappropriate parking that will ensure that the safety and function of the sites is suitable for all customers and will protect disabled customer spaces for proper use. Centro have added an extra 250 spaces into car parks in advance of the introduction of the scheme including 23 extra spaces at Cradley Heath.

Where possible additional spaces will be created at alternative sites over the next 12 months including an extra 760 spaces being created at Rowley Regis, Sandwell and , Tame Bridge Parkway and the Hawthorns.

4. Rail Investment

As part of a £62m Government investment, some of the new electric trains will be coming to the West Midlands to enable a cascade of existing Class 323 trains from the - Birmingham-Walsall Line onto the Cross City Line to operate an enhanced service frequency of three trains per hour to Redditch from December 2014 and services to Bromsgrove from 2016. Passengers at Tipton, Dudley Port, Smethwick Galton Bridge, Smethwick Rolfe Street and Sandwell and Dudley stations will benefit from brand new state of the art trains, with modern passenger information systems, air conditioning and fully accessible toilets. The new trains will be introduced into service in the latter part of 2014.

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Joint investment with in a range of station improvements, including:-

(i) improvements to the platform shelters, subway and lighting at Dudley Port; (ii) additional ticket vending machine at Rowley Regis; (iii) CCTV in the waiting room at Smethwick Galton Bridge.

Conversion to LED lighting in the park and ride sites at Rowley Regis, Tame Bridge Parkway and The Hawthorns. The £3m Rowley Regis Park & Ride expansion will provide an additional 360 further spaces taking capacity to more than 700 spaces .The scheme will be complemented by the installation of a ‘Cycle Hub’ with capacity for the secure storage of up to 30 bikes.

5. Swift Smart ticketing

Since November 2013 the entire Adult nBus direct debit range, including the two new area types has been solely available through Swift. In August this year Centro completed a significant part of its product rollout with the launch of adult 1 and 4 week nBus and National Express product types, including the Coventry and Black Country variations on Swift and available through traditional retail means. Centro’s current priority is to deliver the enhanced PAYG by working closely with suppliers and National Express.

Centro is also undertaking further work to enhance the on-line retail offering through the rollout of on-street readers that will allow Swift card holders to purchase a product on the website and then download it onto their card at 100 locations installed at key interchanges. Swift users will also be able to download these products using an NFC enabled mobile phone. Centro expects to deliver these retail enhancements before the end of the current calendar year

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6. Local Enterprise Partnerships and Sustainable Transport

Centro have worked closely with developing Sustainable Transport Packages for the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership through their Strategic Economic Plan. The Black Country Growth Deal has prioritised the Managing Short Trips programme for funding. This will see the delivery of cycle infrastructure and coordinated information across the Black Country. In Sandwell, this includes the extension of National Cycle Route 5 to Smethwick Galton Bridge.

7. Smarter Network Smarter Choices

WorkWise has now supported over 10,425 unemployed jobseekers across the West Midlands (including over 1,200 Sandwell residents) to find, start and stay in new employment with free ticketing support across all SNSC corridors since the summer of 2012.

Employers: There are now 34 employer sites signed up to the SNSC programme in Sandwell, covering approximately 15,700 employees.

Education – in Sandwell, nine secondary schools and one College are now engaged with the SNSC programme and developing Travel Plans, covering over 16,000 students and nearly 2,000 staff.

Community Engagement, Personalised Travel Planning Projects - 1,500 Sandwell households participated in door-to-door engagements on the A4123/A459 Black Country West corridor, while 1,500 Sandwell households participated along the A34 Walsall Road corridor. Approximately 2,750 households participated in the Sandwell area of the Route 4 PTP project.

Walking and cycling - as part of the SNSC programme, over 2,000 people have participated in some form of cycle intervention (cycle training, maintenance training, route planning, journey accompaniment) in the Black Country, against a target of 1,715 by March 2015.

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] SNSC Infrastructure - Delivered 4 junction upgrades, replacing all signalling equipment with LEDs, installation Optimised Vehicle Actuation (MOVA) and the introduction of Bus Priority at the following locations :-  All Saints Way/Newton Road  All Saints Way/Parsonage Street  Oldbury Road/Mincing Lane/Penncricket Lane  Oldbury Road/Throne Road/Titford Lane  Delivered 5 junction upgrades, replacing all signalling equipment with LEDs and the introduction of Bus Priority at the following locations:- . Walsall Road/Sandy Lane . Walsall Road/Beaconview Road . Churchbridge/Park Street (including Toucan Crossings) . Oldbury Road/Station Road/ Britannia Road . Oldbury Road/Henderson Way/ Archer Way

Delivered Bus Priority at the following junctions:-

. High Street/Ross/Powke Lane

Delivered the upgrade of 5 Pelican Crossings to Puffin Crossing at the following locations:-

. Henderson Way/Short Street . High Street/Darby Street . High Street, Cradley Heath . Churchbridge/Oldbury Ringway . Hargate Lane Dual Pelican.

Station Travel Plan

. Rowley Regis – Installed pedestrian signage, tactile paving, footway upgrade and crossing upgrade at Station Road . Cradley Heath – installation of pedestrian signage and tactile paving.

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] Cycling and Walking Improvements

. Provision of footway on 1km section of the A42 between A41 Black Country Spine road between Power Way and A41/A461 junction (Great Bridge) . Throne Road to High Street via Oldbury Road . Walsall Road (All Saints Way to Greenside way) . Moor Street via Bromford Lane Cycle route – (Expected completion Autumn 2014) . Churchbridge and Birchley Island Cycle Route – (Expected completion Autumn 2014)

8. High Speed 2

Centro and WMITA have developed a joint proposal with local authorities from both the metropolitan area and wider region for a £2bn HS2 WM Local Connectivity Package aimed at ensuring that the economic benefits of HS2 are maximised across the wider West Midlands.

The Connectivity Package includes improved access from Sandwell to the HS2 station in Birmingham City Centre (via both Midland Metro and heavy rail) and also to the HS2 Birmingham Interchange station through additional direct rail services (using capacity released by HS2) to Birmingham International station (which also serves , the NEC and the HUB@UKCentral).

Centro and WMITA also continue to work with Transport for London to secure a direct link between HS2 and HS1 in order to facilitate future direct high speed rail services from the West Midlands to South East and, via the Channel Tunnel, to Europe.

9 Rail Devolution

Sandwell, working alongside 13 partner authorities, has supported the proposal to the DfT for taking greater responsibility for local rail services. The West Midlands Rail proposition outlines how WMR will take on the management responsibility for a new West Midlands Rail Contract (WMRC) covering local services re-mapped out of the current London Midland franchise.

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] The WMRC would commence in 2017, and would be preceded by a 15-month Direct Award contract to be negotiated with London Midland when the current franchise ends in March 2016.A decision is expected from the Secretary of State by the end of the year.

10 Metro

Centro ordered a new fleet of 20 trams now entering into service. They are fully low-floor, longer, have two wheelchair spaces and a capacity of 200. They have air conditioning and enhanced information systems.

Work to extend Midland Metro into Birmingham City Centre has continued. When the extension opens, it will greatly improve links between the Black Country and central Birmingham via the national rail network at the redeveloped New Street station. The Transport and Works Act Application to allow construction of the route from Stephenson Street to Centenary Square has also received funding.

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[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] Appendix 1

Measuring Success

Three organisational performance indicators (KPI) are being used to ensure that Centro is heading in the right direction:

 Patronage  Modal Share  Customer Satisfaction  Progress in achieving these targets and other supporting measures are monitored and reported on a regular basis. This means that planning arrangements are informed by a clear evidence base of factors which are important to our customers.

The latest position on each of these key indicators is set out below.

Patronage

Rail

Analysis of long-term patronage trends shows that rail travel continues to increase, with latest figures showing 49.5 million trips were made during the year to September 2014, compared with 47.3 million during the previous year and only 27.4 million a decade ago. This trend is reflected across the UK, with rail patronage having increased by a quarter in the last five years.

The current rail patronage of 49.5 million is the highest rail patronage the West Midlands has seen and has exceeded the 48.2 million target. Centro continues to work with London Midland and other industry partners in developing local rail services to meet growing demand.

Bus

The latest annual patronage figure of 276 million (year to August 2014), compares with 277 million in the previous year. This same trend is apparent across metropolitan areas with bus patronage in England having decreased by 1.4% in 2013.

The introduction of initiatives within Transforming Bus Travel (TBT) has helped slow the decline in bus patronage within the TBT area with the

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] focus on modifying the network to help better meet current travel demands. Where targeted marking campaigns have been introduced, patronage on 73% of these routes has increased.

Metro

Metro trips remain stable at around five million over recent years, although a major barrier to patronage growth is the lack of capacity on trams during peak periods. The Birmingham City Centre Extension and fleet replacement project will increase the available passenger capacity by more than 33%.

Light rail use in England continued to increase in 2012/13, with both passenger journeys and vehicle miles reaching the highest levels recorded: 222 million passenger journeys were made in total on the eight systems, 18 million (9%) more than during the previous year.

Ring and Ride

Trips made by Ring and Ride continue to decline with patronage at 1.2 million during the year to August 2014, compared with 1.3 million the previous year. Analysis has found that the decline in trips is particularly marked in the evenings.

Part of the reason for the decline is the economic climate, meaning that people are travelling less frequently and clubs and groups that cater for older and disabled people are continuing to close

Modal Share

Public transport growth as a whole is a crucial indicator to identify if people are happy with the public transport offer, rather than being too concerned that one mode decreases as one increases, as there are many external factors that can affect modal choice, including the economy, as well as the national travel and lifestyle trends highlighted above.

Despite car still being the dominant mode into most centres, the public transport modal share continues to increase, with 36% of inbound AM peak journeys made by public transport. This varies by centre with Birmingham seeing 60% of trips made by public transport. The lowest was Brierley Hill with only 13% being made by public transport.

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] West Bromwich Modal Split

Inbound AM Peak bus, metro and car trips into West Bromwich have seen increases of 2.8%, 13.9% and 0.2% respectively in 2014, compared to 2012. The increase in car trips was smaller than the trips made by public transport, meaning that public transport modal share has increased from 34.2% to 35% in 2014.

Over the last 10 years the number of trips being made into West Bromwich town centre has not fluctuated greatly with a difference of just 622 trips with 2008 having the highest number of trips and 2012 having the lowest number. Metro trips are at their highest level in 2014.

Sandwell Bus Network Review Monitoring

Centro, Sandwell and Birmingham MBCs, along with Bus Operators reviewed bus services in the Sandwell area, with the revised network taking effect from October 2012. Monitoring of the bus network services one year after reveals:-

Customer Satisfaction

 Overall comfort while waiting at stop improved by 5 percentage points to 88%.  Overall comfort while travelling on bus noted no year on year improvement (at 93%), it was well rated in all areas and never dipping below 90% satisfaction.  Overall satisfaction with the driver/driving significantly increased by 5 percentage points (to 93%)  Overall satisfaction with the bus service recorded a 3 percentage point increase from 84% to 87%.  Satisfaction with value for money improved to 65% from 62%.

[IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] Patronage

Indications in Sandwell show 0.8% increase in Y1 compared to baseline. Please note that more detailed analysis is required as some operator data is missing, but normally this will only enhance the percentage increase. This demonstrates a very positive result compared with the West Midlands overall decrease in patronage.

Reliability and punctuality

Centro undertook surveys to assess reliability for year 1 of the Sandwell Voluntary Multilateral Partnership in September 2012, March 2013 & September 2013, one “before” the Review survey and two “after” the Review surveys.

In March 2013, snow affected the Saturday survey so this was repeated in April 2013. The services surveyed were:

· 87 at Oldbury & Smethwick, · 404 which later became the 4 at West Bromwich, Oldbury & Whiteheath Gate, · 120 at Oldbury, · 127 at Brandhall, · 450 which was later surveyed as the 49 at Smethwick. · Plus new services surveyed on the “after” services were the 55, 54 and 20/21 Of these services the 87, 120 & 4 are classified by the Department for Transport as being “frequent services” with a frequency of more than 5 buses per hour and are measured by % of buses that ran, and EWT (excess wait time) (“average waiting time” minus the “scheduled waiting time”). The other less frequent services are measured by % of buses that ran and the % of buses that ran within the Traffic Commissioner’s standards of being between one minute early and 5 minutes late.

Some services changed route or number or frequency between the before & after surveys so it is not possible to compare exactly but our surveys should show a reasonable comparison.

Reliability (% of buses that operated)

Improved from 97.0% to 98.4% between September 2012 and September 2013 which is above the West Midlands average of 96.4%.

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Punctuality (% of buses operating within the Traffic Commissioner’s standard)

Also improved greatly from 74.8% to 84.3% for non frequent services which is again above the West Midlands average of 67.4%. If frequent services were included then there would still be an increase from 69.6% to 79.9%.

Excess Wait Time

EWT on frequent services has varied between surveys but still seen an improvement from 1.51 minutes to 1.35 minutes, however this is below the West Midlands average of 1.21 minutes. The middle survey in March 2013 did show an improved figure above the West Midlands figure at 0.93 minutes but this worsened to 1.35 minutes in September 2013.

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