Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Neil Buckley, and public representatives Leslie Webb, Linda Bishop, Clare Mason, Robert Greenland, Charlotte Davenport and Kat Handy.

Transport Committee Members only.

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests declared by members at the meeting.

There were no items requiring the exclusion of the press and public.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 April 2018 be approved.

Presentation.

The Sub-Committee was provided with a presentation which outlined spending on services funded through the transport levy. The presentation addressed spending priorities as a result of a reduction of £1 million in the transport levy for 2019/20.

The services funded through the levy include:

·         Support for mobility / tendered bus services which receives £18.7 million in funding.

·         Concessionary travel for young people with a current budget of £10 million.

·         The provision of travel information, with a budget of £1.2m plus £0.8 million contribution form transport operators.

·         Support to multi modal ticketing, £1m spend offset by £0.8m income.

·         Bus stations, stops, shelters and associated facilities with a total cost of £7.5m offset by £4 million income.

The sub-committee was asked to consider spending priorities across services funded through the transport levy. Members were given 8 votes each to allocate across the 5 services. The results of the consultation was as follows:

·         32 for support for mobility / tendered bus services.

·         18 for concessionary travel for young people.

·         16 for the provision of travel information.

·         14 for bus stations, stops, shelters and associated facilities.

·         8 for the support of multi-modal ticketing.

Resolved: That the presentation and the Sub-Committee’s feedback be noted.

Northern updated the Sub-Committee on the impact of the timetable changes introduced in May 2018. Northern were told in January 2018 that the planned timetable would no longer be possible due to a delay in the electrification of rail around Bolton. As a consequence the timetable had to be changed at short notice resulting in a timetable that could not be delivered reliably. It was emphasised that the service had recovered but is still not where it should be. Planned changes for December 2018 and May 2019 will aim to stabilise the service.

Transpennine provided an update to the Sub-Committee. They reported that many delays to their services around the Leeds area were caused by delays in Manchester. To address this issue Transpennine plan to split the “stopping” service from Manchester to Leeds into two separate services from 9 December 2018; one from Manchester to Huddersfield and then from Huddersfield to Leeds. The Sub-Committee was also advised that new train units should begin to enter service in early 2019.

Following the rail operator updates the Sub-Committee had the following comments:

·         Northern responded to a question from the Sub-Committee requesting an update on the industrial action affecting Northern services. The Sub-Committee was informed that the dispute had been submitted to ACAS for arbitration but unfortunately this had proved ineffective. Northern expressed their hope to resolve the dispute but stated that no talks were currently planned.

·         The Sub-Committee expressed concerns regarding penalty fares, particularly in regard to concessionary tickets which are not available from the self-service machines. Northern assured the Sub-Committee that penalty fares would be used reasonably – if a ticket was unavailable then they would not issue penalty fares.

·         A question was raised over the planned changes to the Transpennine Manchester to Leeds service and whether  the two parts of the journey would marry up effectively. Transpennine informed the Sub-Committee that the changes were specifically designed to improve East / West connectivity.

In respect of bus services, First informed the Sub-Committee that they have implemented a system which monitors the speed of buses relative to speed limits. They also provided an update on contactless ticketing targets and that the target to increase cashless sales to 80% in 5 years is achievable. First addressed fare increases but noted that while some fares had increased others had stayed the same price.

Arriva provided an update and advised the Sub-Committee that extra vehicles would be provided on the 130 and 136 services.

Following the bus operator updates the Sub-Committee had the following questions and comments:

·         The Sub-Committee requested the latest patronage figures including, if possible, a breakdown of the park and ride usage. First would provide this information.

·         The Sub-Committee expressed disappointment regarding the recent fare increases and commented that the various ticketing schemes available from bus operators makes it difficult for customers to find the best value option. First acknowledged this issue and stated their ambition to get more passengers using the M ticket option.

·         The Sub-Committee expressed concerns regarding Arriva’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

An information report was presented which updated the Sub-Committee on matters relating to the Leeds district.

Discussion following the information report included the following:

·         A question was raised regarding the future of Bus 18. The Sub-Committee heard that Bus 18 was a short term initiative and discussions are taking place to establish a more formal partnership.

·         A member asked about the consultation date for the A647 and was advised the consultation was imminent.

·         Regarding the Clean Bus Technology fund a member asked what assurances were in place to guarantee that the vehicles remained in the region. The Sub-Committee was informed that there were safeguards in the grant funding to ensure this. 

Resolved: That the information report be noted.

The Sub-Committee made the following suggestions and comments:

·         Concerns that cuts in spending impact buses disproportionately with the cost of numerous changes to timetables a deterrent to patronage and a drain on costs.

·         The possibility of mitigating reductions in spending through exploring additional revenue streams. It was noted that the Combined Authority continues to look at ways to increase revenue.

·         Concerns were raised that a 2017 report showed that there was a decrease by 10% of rail passengers into Leeds in the morning commute. It was noted that there had been a phenomenal increase over the past 10 years and the reason why this may have levelled off is due to capacity complaints. More trains are needed to address overcrowding and prevent its adverse impact on patronage.