Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Dagger and public representative David Young.

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 18 April 2018 be approved.

The Sub-Committee was presented with a petition regarding the withdrawal of the 134 service from Castleford to Junction 32. The petition registered residents’ concerns that there was a reduced service calling at Park Road and no service from Front Street to/from Castleford.

The Sub-Committee heard that following the demise of M travel, Arriva ran a 30 minute frequency service from Castleford to Junction 32 which stopped at Park Road. This service was withdrawn on the 2 September 2018, and Arriva confirmed to the Sub-Committee that this was because it was not commercially viable. The 187 service runs from Pontefract to Castleford hourly but it was reported that this service runs through Airedale which extends the journey time. It was also noted that Park Road is serviced by the 410 which is a 30 minute service into Pontefract.

Guidelines state that it is considered to be reasonable if residents are within 600m of an alternative bus stop. However, it was acknowledged that there may be issues around accessibility because of the demographics of the area. The Sub-Committee was informed that the Combined Authority would hold discussions with Arriva to try and find a solution and that the petition would be taken to the January meeting of the Transport Committee.

Resolved:

(i)            That the petition be noted.

(ii)          That the petition be brought to the January meeting of the Transport Committee.

Northern updated the Sub-Committee on the impact of the timetable changes introduced in May 2018. Northern were told in January that the new timetable would no longer be possible due to a delay in the electrification of rail around Bolton. Northern reported that performance had stabilised but it was still down compared to last  year. Planned changes for December 2018 will aim to stabilise the service with May 2019 seeing the introduction of changes originally planned for May 2018. In addition, the Sub-Committee was updated on the industrial action affecting northern services. Strikes have been called for the next two Saturdays and northern planned for industrial action every Saturday until Christmas. 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.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Following the rail operator update the Sub-Committee had the following questions and comments:

·         Questions were raised regarding the car park at Wakefield Kirkgate being too small. Northern explained the difficulty with any expansion to the car park due to lack of available land.

·         The Sub-Committee also requested an update on the plans to install toilets at Wakefield Kirkgate. Northern informed the Sub-Committee that the toilets should be in place by December 2019.

·         Northern responded to a query regarding the 0657 train from Doncaster to Leeds which is often cancelled or short-formed with only 2 carriages. Northern explained to the Sub-Committee that the train’s pattern was unusual and included time idling at Leeds station. As a result it is one of the services which is short formed to assist other services as it has the least impact. Northern informed the Sub-Committee the service remains a 4 car electric service, but in cases where that is not possible, it will be a 3 car service.

Arriva provided the following update:

·         It was noted that Paul Flanagan would attend DCSCs on behalf of Arriva in the future.

·         The Sub-Committee was informed that the 163 and 166 services had been struggling to keep to time. Arriva have added an extra bus to the services to ensure that they are more consistent in the future.

·         Arriva reported that they had changed the names of their school services.

·         Arriva have committed to upgrade all their buses into Leeds to Euro 6 for 2020.

After the bus operator update the Sub-Committee had the follow questions:

·         The Sub-Committee queried the 195 service which has seen a variety of older buses on the route. Arriva stated that because of the ongoing work to fleet some buses had to be substituted temporarily.

·         It was pointed out that concessionary passes for young people and for people with disabilities were only valid after 9:30am which meant that concession holders couldn’t use their passes to get to school / college. The Sub-Committee heard that the national scheme starts at 9:30am and this is funded by the government. The discretionary spend for the Combined Authority is prioritised for half fares for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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. It was emphasised that this exercise was a way for the Combined Authority to get an initial feeling as to the Sub-Committee’s views and that there would be further consultation in the future. Members were given 8 votes each to allocate across the 5 services. The results of the consultation was as follows:

·         19 for support for mobility / tendered bus services.

·         10 for concessionary travel for young people.

·         7 for the provision of travel information.

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

·         4 for the support of multi-modal ticketing.

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

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

Councillor Groves, Chair of the Transport Committee, attended the meeting and highlighted the following points:

·         The Clean Transport Fund means that there will be 219 Euro VI buses operating in Leeds.

·         The Combined Authority had progressed past the first round in the Transforming Cities Fund. Details of the bid were on the Combined Authority’s website and further information in respect of the Wakefield District would be circulated to members.  

·         Highlighted the success of the Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride schemes with over 1000 vehicles and 700 vehicles respectively per day.

·         25% increase in bus patronage amongst young people following the introduction of the MyDay ticket.

Members of also discussed and commented on the following:

·         Normanton rail station platforms and the potential for service to Huddersfield and Halifax that do not call at Leeds.

·         The challenges involved in linking transport infrastructure with new commercial and residential developments in areas such as Castleford and Sherburn-in-Elmet.

Resolved: That the information report be noted.

There were no further questions.