Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Role of Buses 4 3. Existing Conditions / Current Issues 5 4. Aspirations for Tees Valley Buses 11 5. Interventions 15 6. Links to Local Schemes 19 7. Action Plan 20 2 Draft Bus Implementation Plan 1. Introduction Tees Valley Combined Authority is the local transport authority for the Tees Valley. This is the Tees Valley Bus Implementation Plan, part of the first Strategic Transport Plan for the region, for the period up to 2029. It has been developed by the Combined Authority in collaboration with our five constituent Local Authorities, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. The Combined Authority has ambitious plans to grow the region’s economy and our Strategic Economic Plan aims to create 25,000 Our vision for new jobs and deliver an additional £2.8billion into Tees Valley by Tees Valley is: 2026. We are also developing a Local Industrial Strategy, an agreement between us and the Government on how we will To provide a high improve our economy over the next ten years and how this will quality, clean, feed into the Government’s overall UK strategy. quick, affordable, reliable and safe In order to ensure that everyone in Tees Valley is able to work, transport network study, enjoy and fully participate in these ambitious plans for the for people and future, we need a world-class transport system that also encourages inward investment. Transport is about connecting freight to move people and businesses in Tees Valley and beyond. Delivering a within, to and from world-class transport system that is fit for the future is a critical Tees Valley. enabler for the success of the area. In preparing the Strategic Transport Plan, a framework was developed based upon six themes, which are closely linked and will all require improvement in order to meet the overall transport vision for the Tees Valley. The six key themes are: National Rail. Major Roads. Connecting Economic Centres. Unlocking Key Sites. Local Journeys. Deliver Social Equality and Protect and Enhance the Environment To support the Strategic Transport Plan itself, a series of Implementation Plans have been prepared which go into more detail on the current and future issues, and the interventions needed, across the six themes listed above. Buses form a key component of the Tees Valley’s transport infrastructure with around 600,000 journeys made every week on local buses, helping residents to access employment, leisure, health, and education facilities across the region. As with the Strategic Transport Plan, we are looking for feedback on this supporting document, before it is finalised towards the end of 2019. Please visit our website to provide your input. www.teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/consultations Draft Bus Implementation Plan 3 2. Role of Buses The bus network plays a key role in helping people move around the Tees Valley. Buses are the main mode of public transport in the area responsible for 81% of all public transport journeys. Furthermore, around 19,000 people rely on buses in order to get to work. Tees Valley has comparatively low levels of car ownership, with 31% of households having no car compared to 25% nationally. For these households, buses can be critical in ensuring that everyone is able to access work, education and key services. Bus services therefore have an important role to play in delivering the vision and objectives of the Strategic Transport Plan. Buses work most efficiently when transporting people along the busiest transport corridors. The current bus service network is therefore largely designed around serving our main centres, which are the routes that are most commercially viable. Buses are key to maintaining the economic vitality of our town centres. For example, in Darlington research suggests around a third of visitors to the town centre arrive by bus. However, buses have a wider function as for many people without access to a car they provide an essential means of accessing education, employment and key services. They therefore have an important role to play in ensuring the Tees Valley is a socially inclusive community. For people living in areas that are not commercially viable, for example outlying rural areas, or urban areas where evening services are not available, the lack of a regular bus service can be a real barrier to fully engaging with the opportunities that are available to them. Buses can help to improve the reliability of the transport network. High quality, reliable and affordable bus services can help to deliver mode shift thereby reducing demand on the highway network. If more people can be persuaded to use the bus for some journeys, rather than their own car, then this will help to reduce levels of traffic, particularly on main routes into our town centres. Buses can also help us to tackle problems of poor air quality as modern vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient and cleaner. Engine technology is developing at a rapid pace, with electric, gas powered, hydrogen fuelled and hybrid technologies all potentially offering ways in which we can make our bus network even cleaner. Operators are already exploring and investing in this technology, with Arriva investing over £2 million in bringing cleaner gas powered buses to the Tees Valley. 4 Draft Bus Implementation Plan 3. Existing Conditions / Current Issues The Tees Valley has an extensive network of bus services, the vast majority of which operate commercially without any public subsidy. There are a very small number of non- commercial services that operate with financial support from the local authorities or through kick start developer funding. The Tees Valley bus network carried 28 million passengers in 2017/18, which was 5% lower than the numbers carried in 2016/17 and 13% lower than 2013/14 (see Table 1). The investment of £70 million through the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement project to improve the punctuality, reliability and quality of local services appeared to have slowed the rate of decreasing bus usage, but data from 2015/16 onwards appears to suggest the underlying trend of decreasing usage has continued. Table 1 – Tees Valley Bus Patronage Data LA 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017/2018 Darlington 6,543,699 6,419,111 6,329,781 6,168,038 5,903,241 Hartlepool 4,581,499 4,582,449 4,366,103 4,328,345 3,981,470 Middlesbrough 8,983,206 8,679,827 8,168,359 7,736,134 7,308,377 Redcar & Cleveland 4,277,866 4,262,206 4,122,354 3,873,985 3,630,781 Stockton-on-Tees 8,389,970 8,532,818 8,075,314 7,865,784 7,550,520 Tees Valley 32,776,240 32,476,411 31,061,911 29,972,286 28,374,389 There are a number of factors that have impacted on bus usage: Reduction in the frequency of commercial services; The gradual withdrawal of virtually all local authority bus subsidies; Parking charges and initiatives that encourage car use; Changes in shopping habits particularly the growth in on-line shopping; Changes in working patterns, for example working from home; and Complicated fares and perceived poor value for money. Although bus use is reducing, it is still the most important public transport mode in Tees Valley by a considerable margin, accounting for 81% of all trips (compared with 19% for rail). Draft Bus Implementation Plan 5 Bus Operators The vast majority of services are operated by either Arriva or Stagecoach, with a minority of services provided by other smaller operators. Table 2 shows the main operator market share and the second operator market share by local authority area. Table 2 – Operator market share by local authority area Main operator Main operator Second Second name market share operator name operator market share Darlington Arriva 97.4% Scarlet Band 1.3% Hartlepool Stagecoach 91.8% Arriva 4.7% Middlesbrough Stagecoach 51.6% Arriva 44.3% Redcar & Cleveland Arriva 91.6% Municipal 8.1% Stockton-On-Tees Stagecoach 59.3% Arriva 35.5% Source DfT: Bus1002 2015/16 Across the Tees Valley there is very limited competition with services in Darlington and Redcar & Cleveland operated almost exclusively by Arriva and services in Hartlepool operated almost exclusively by Stagecoach. Arriva and Stagecoach services overlap in Stockton and Middlesbrough centres, but both operators have distinct territories within these districts. Arriva largely serves areas to the south of the river Tees and the eastern side of Middlesbrough while Stagecoach predominantly operates to the north of the river Tees and the western side of Middlesbrough. Arriva and Go North East operate a network of cross boundary services connecting Teesside to County Durham, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear. Darlington is the district with the highest proportion of cross boundary services. Hartlepool also has a large number of cross boundary services connecting the borough to County Durham and Tyne and Wear. Go North East operate well used high quality express buses between Stockton and Middlesbrough and Tyne and Wear that offer journey times comparable to parallel rail services and at a significantly lower cost. 6 Draft Bus Implementation Plan The bus network – frequencies and routes The Tees Valley has an extensive bus system. There are three broad categories of bus service in the Tees Valley. A network of core high frequency urban radial services operate on a commercial basis along the major bus corridors into town centres where passenger volumes are highest. These services usually have the longest operating hours with last departures usually around or just after 23:00. Inter-urban buses also operate commercially generally at lower frequencies and some compete directly with rail services.