Page 41 Agenda Item 9 HIGHWAYS, TRANSPORTATION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 19TH SEPTEMBER 2002 RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT PROGRESS REPORT REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF HIGHWAYS, TRANSPORTATION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT Purpose of Report 1. To provide an update on progress with improvements to rural public transport. Background 2. Earlier this year the main bus service link between Kibworth and Fleckney was broken following changes by Arriva Fox to their commercially-run services. Petitions were brought forward by Dr Feltham and Mr Boult and considered at the May meeting of the Planning and Environment Scrutiny Committee. It was concluded then that there was little that could be done about the broken link in the short term but that there was some possibility of improvement at a future date, when other improvements to services in the area were introduced. 3. The Committee resolved, amongst other things, that: “a report be brought to the September meeting of the Scrutiny Committee concerning the work on improvements to the bus services for the county, following on from the Best Value Review.” This is the requested report. Proposals in the Best Value Review 4. The Best Value review and implementation plan were completed last winter and inspected in early summer. The judgement of the Best Value Inspectorate was that this was a good (two star) service with excellent prospects for improvement. The review covered a range of topics, including policy for rural bus services. 1 D:\modernGov\Data\AgendaItemDocs\4\4\9\AI00004944\RuralTransport00.doc Page 42 5. The new policy has two starting points: • With increased funding available from central government, and fewer commercially run services in the rural areas than there used to be, there is scope for a much more pro-active policy in planning rural bus services to help meet corporate objectives. • The previous pattern of infrequent and unco-ordinated services is unlikely to stem the long-term decline in patronage. An integrated network of services of hourly or higher frequency, run to high quality standards and well publicised, offers access for a much wider range of purposes and can produce sustained growth. 6. This analysis leads to a three-tier pattern of services for the rural county: • A ‘Cross-county’ network of hourly or more frequent services linking the county towns radially to Leicester and main towns in adjacent counties, and orbitally with each other. The routes are a mixture of commercial and subsidised operation and some will have evening and Sunday services. • A network of other hourly services on secondary routes linking to county towns or Leicester, to the extent that, when the network is complete, 95% of Leicestershire residents will be within an 800 metre walk of a bus service of at least hourly frequency. These will all be subsidised routes • More modest services for the remaining small communities, using community consultation to define priorities for access and meet the most important, often using unconventional types of service. Progress on the ‘Cross-county’ network 7. The Cross-county network has been complete since the spring and comprises radial routes from Leicester to Hinckley/Nuneaton, Ashby/Swadlincote, Loughborough/Derby/Nottingham, Melton/Grantham, Uppingham and Market Harborough. Orbital services run on routes linking Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Hinckley, Coalville, Loughborough and Melton Mowbray. All the County Council contract services use new or nearly-new low-floor buses and there have already been some large increases in patronage, for example 59% in the first few months of the 159 Hinckley-Coalville service after it was improved. 8. The action plan for the next two years comprises steps to improve service attractiveness further and promote more patronage growth, including: • Continue the programme of infrastructure improvements (bus shelters, raised kerbs, in some places Star-trak ‘real time’ information) which has already started on the Leicester- Loughborough and Leicester-Uppingham routes. These are funded 2 D:\modernGov\Data\AgendaItemDocs\4\4\9\AI00004944\RuralTransport00.doc Page 43 by a combination of Rural Bus Challenge and Local Transport Plan capital. • Continue the work to improve facilities for interchange between these services, and with other services, in the market towns. Planning is well-advanced in conjunction with other improvements in Hinckley, Loughborough and Ashby and has started in Melton Mowbray. Bus stops located in close proximity, with good waiting conditions and excellent passenger information, are required in each case. • Increase the ‘branding’ of vehicles, with the first vehicle in full ‘Cross-county’ colours due to start service soon. • Increase the availability and use of tickets allowing unlimited travel across the network • Increase promotional effort so that the level of awareness of the access opportunities offered by the new services is significantly increased. Funding is in place to help secure this and recruitment of a specialist marketing officer is under way. Progress with the other hourly services and deep rural services 9. In contrast to the Cross-county services, which were already under way as the Review concluded, these have had to be planned from scratch; as a result, none of the new services is yet in place. Nevertheless, the programme has been fully defined and public consultation in the first areas has been taking place this summer. 10. The county has been divided into areas in a programme of work which will last until March 2004. In each area, co-ordinated work is carried out on the other hourly services and on the deep rural parishes; this is so that existing services can be withdrawn all together at the time new services are introduced. A plan in the committee room will show the areas and the pattern of other hourly services as envisaged prior to consultation. 11. In each area, officers set out proposals for the hourly services and these are consulted on with service users, parishes and local Members over a two-month period. Thereafter, the proposals are adjusted and tenders are invited for the new services. 12. In parallel in the deep rural parishes, contact is made with parishes, other community groups and service users. Discussions are held and ideas for services worked up. The process is much more fluid here because community priorities have to be ascertained and then services designed to fit those, including such options as shared taxis, dial-a-ride and community minibuses as well as more conventional service types. Once the service types are determined, officers then take the necessary steps to secure them. 13. Appendix 1 sets out the overall timescale for each area in outline: the process is running to time so far. In the rural county, consultation has 3 D:\modernGov\Data\AgendaItemDocs\4\4\9\AI00004944\RuralTransport00.doc Page 44 started on three areas, that to the north of Market Harborough, between Melton Mowbray and Nether Broughton via Old Dalby, and the Vale of Belvoir. The proposals for improved service in the Market Harborough and Old Dalby areas have been much welcomed. The picture in the Vale of Belvoir is more complex in that, although there is much support for the proposed service up through the Vale of Belvoir to Bottesford, with connections there for Grantham and Bingham/Nottingham, there is concern in some communities about the loss of a direct link to Bingham. Officers intend to hold further discussions to resolve this. Contacts with the ‘deep rural’ parishes in each area have been made and initial discussions will be held shortly. The new hourly services in the first three areas are due to start in January and February 2003. Note on the Fleckney to Kibworth link 14. The May report indicated an intention to explore whether a Fleckney to Kibworth link could be incorporated cost-effectively in the new services for that area. In the event, it has been possible to propose an hourly link between the two villages as part of a through service to Market Harborough, operating between 0700 and 1900. This should substantially alleviate the difficulties caused by the withdrawal of the Arriva commercial service. Resource Implications 15. Rural bus services are funded by County Council revenue funds, by Rural Bus Grant, by Rural Bus Challenge funds for the ‘Cross-county’ project and by Rural Transport Partnership funding from the Countryside Agency as awarded for individual projects. It is necessary to ensure that total expenditure on a rapidly changing portfolio of services is kept in balance with the availability of these funds, some of them time-limited. 16. The Director of Resources has been consulted on the Resource Implications section of this report. Equal Opportunities Implications 17. Rural bus services are used by many people who do not have access to a car, including some with mobility impairments. Conclusion 18. In the period to March 2004 the rural bus services network in Leicestershire will be completely re-cast in order better to meet corporate objectives. This is a complex task both technically and financially. There are numerous challenges involved, and proper communication with customers is one of the most important, to ensure that the proposals, and the reasons for making them, are fully understood. So far, the programme remains on time and within budget. 4 D:\modernGov\Data\AgendaItemDocs\4\4\9\AI00004944\RuralTransport00.doc Page 45 Officer to Contact James Holden (0116) 265 7244 Background papers Public Transport Best Value Review documents Circulation Under Sensitive Issues Procedure Dr R.K.A. Feltham Mr P.D. Boult TD 5 D:\modernGov\Data\AgendaItemDocs\4\4\9\AI00004944\RuralTransport00.doc Page 46.