Agenda and minutes

Venue: HELD AS REMOTE MEETING

Items
No. Item

11.

Open Forum

Open session for members of the public to ask a question, raise a concern or provide feedback.

Minutes:

The Chair introduced Ruth Gelletlie from Leeds Living Streets Charity to speak at the Open Forum.  Ruth, a retired Clinical Physician provided the Sub-Committee with a presentation and spoke about the aim to make an environment which is more suitable for walking and cycling and to encourage exercise to prevent both physical and mental health issues.

 

The Chair thanked Ruth for attending and asked that the presentation slides be circulated following the meeting.

 

 

12.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

13.

Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Transport Committee Members only.

Minutes:

14.

Exempt Information - Possible exclusion of the press and public

Minutes:

15.

Minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2019. pdf icon PDF 161 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2019 be approved.

16.

Minutes of the Joint DCSC meeting held on 17 July pdf icon PDF 150 KB

Minutes:

Subject to Charlotte Davenport, Howard Dews, Judith Rhodes, Leslie Webb and Clive Woods being added to the attendance list it was agreed to note the minutes.

 

Resolved:  That the minutes of the joint District Consultation Sub-Committee be noted.

 

17.

Chair's Update

Minutes:

The Chair reported the winning of a Local Government Award by Officers for their work on the climate emergency which is recognition for an in-depth piece of work.

 

Last week saw the rollout of the first electric bus. The buses will operate service 5 in Leeds (Halton Moor/ City Centre loop) with nine electric single deck buses from October 2020. The buses are part-funded through the DfT Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) grant scheme.

 

It was noted that the West Yorkshire Combined Authority had been awarded a single payment of £1,086 million revenue funding to support bus services in the region.  The pandemic had delayed a number of initiatives intended to utilise this fund, but three had been completed.

 

·       A Keighley to Halifax via Denholm service.

·       New links between east Leeds and five local towns.

·       A Barnsley/Doncaster to southeast Wakefield Service.

The rest of the fund had been put into a contingency plan pot with the agreement of the Department for Transport.

18.

Information Report pdf icon PDF 189 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee noted a report which provided an update on matters relating to the Leeds district.

 

It was noted that major works have been taking place on Headrow, Infirmary Street and Park Row in Leeds city centre throughout the summer to speed up bus services and make them more reliable and punctual. Part of the Leeds City Council’s £270 million Connecting Leeds programme, the scheme will result in Infirmary Street being two-way for buses and cycles with new bus stops in lay-bys along both sides. The central bus stop island will be removed and a new pedestrian crossing installed

 

Construction work has commenced to create a 1,200 space Park and Rise facility at Stourton.

 

The Network Navigation project will roll out a colour coded approach to the high frequency “core” bus network in Leeds from autumn 2020.

 

Works to improve passenger and environmental facilities at Leeds Bus Station will commence in Spring 2021.

 

The Sub-Committee was advised that operators were still reviewing their services to ensure they would be able to prioritise resources to meet demand but noted this was a rapidly changing environment.

 

It was reported that the Combined Authority had applied for Emergency Active Travel funding from the Department for Transport and had been successful in its application for tranche one.  An application for further funding from tranche two had been submitted and a response was expected in the near future.

 

Resolved:  That the information report and Sub-Committee’s comments be noted.

 

19.

Operator Updates

Minutes:

The meeting was attended by representatives from the rail and bus operators who provided the Sub-Committee with updates.

 

Arriva

 

Arriva informed the sub-committee it had been a busy two months with many timetable changes, extra journeys and capacity restrictions and had been working with the Combined Authority to enable bespoke services to ensure students are able to get to schools. 

 

The Sub-Committee was advised that as part of the West Yorkshire Bus Alliance, Arriva was currently in the process of retrofitting exhausts to a Euro 6 emissions standard, and that this programme had been made possible by the Combined Authority’s successful bid to the Clean Bus Technology fund,

 

First Group

 

First Group informed the Sub-Committee of the measures they had implemented to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and have been working with the Combined Authority to enable bespoke services to ensure students are able to get to schools

 

It was highlighted that First Group had committed to operate as a zero-emissions bus company nationally by 2035 and did not plan to purchase any new diesel buses after 2022.

 

First is planning to operate service 5 (Halton Moor / City Centre Loop with the first bus to go out Tuesday 13 October 2020 and there will be nine single deck buses which have been part funded through the DfT Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) grant scheme

 

The Headingley Lane corridor was busy aiding the student population.

 

Transdev

 

Transdev informed the Sub-Committee of the measures they had implemented to prevent the spread of Covid 19

 

The network of bus services which link the Airport with Leeds and Bradford is jointly funded by the Combined Authority and the Airport company.  Following a procurement process, Transdev has been engaged to operate the services which are now branded “Flyer” and have moved to running a double decker service to improve capacity

 

Northern

 

Northern advised that many changes had been made to services in a short period of time, with six timetables introduced since the start of the pandemic as services were gradually reinstated. They had also introduced a new flexible season ticket which would allow people only working for part of the week to take the advantage of a season ticket discount.  This was in operation throughout West Yorkshire and proving popular.

 

It was noted that during the summer months there had been an upsurge on leisure services to tourist and retail areas, but this had now dropped following the re-opening of schools and colleges in September.  Northern thanked the Combined Authority for their help in providing standby buses during the first week of the reopening of schools.

 

It was reported that compliance with mask guidance had been improving, with well over 90% compliance, particularly since masks had become compulsory in retail premises.

 

In respect of local lockdowns, Northern advised that they were liaising closely with local authorities to ensure that their communications and messaging were in harmony.

 

TransPennine

 

TransPennine informed the Sub-committee they were maintaining a high level of performance and increasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Workshop Session - Carbon Reduction Pathways

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee was given a presentation on West Yorkshire Carbon emission reduction pathways which was one of the significant areas of activity being undertaken by the Combined Authority to tackle the climate emergency. The Sub-Committee was invited to participate in the workshop and provide feedback. 

 

It was reported that the Combined Authority had commissioned a study to identify potential carbon emission reduction pathways and the interventions that need to be implemented if the net zero carbon 2038 target were to be achieved.

 

The Sub-Committee was thanked for their feedback.  They were asked to forward any further comments to the Combined Authority.

 

Resolved:  That the progress being made to tackle the Climate Emergency be noted.