Agenda item

Members received a presentation from the Director of Transport and Property Services on the Bus Service Improvement Plan. Some key themes were presented for discussion: ‘Fares and ticketing’, ‘Bus network design’, and ‘Bus priority and supporting infrastructure’. Members were asked to feedback what they thought the most important things to consider in this plan would be. This was part of a wider engagement process, and it was hoped this would highlight the priorities from each district area.

The Government’s National Bus Strategy had been published on 15 March 2021, setting out an important role for buses in the transport network and noting that a deregulated environment had not worked well for buses. As part of this, Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) had been given a deadline of 31 October 2021 to produce a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). This plan would set out the LTAs’ intentions for the bus services in their region, and how they would deliver on the themes in the National Bus Strategy, which were that buses be:

·       Faster and more reliable

·       More frequent

·       Better integrated with other modes of travel such as trains, walking and cycling

·       Cheaper

·       Easier to use and to understand

·       More comprehensive.

The BSIP was also being designed to align with the Mayor’s pledges for the bus service, including bringing the bus service back under public control and supporting more environmentally-friendly buses. It would also serve as a bidding document for the Government funding stream behind the National Bus Strategy.

The Bus Services Act included methods through which LTAs can work with bus companies to strengthen the collective role of management of the bus service. In line with this, and recognising the importance of buses to the people of the region, the Combined Authority was proposing to establish a more formal enhanced partnership with bus operators, and also look to forward at potentially undertaking a franchising scheme, as had been approved at the June 2021 meeting of the Combined Authority. Final recommendations regarding whether franchising could deliver the aims of the plan more effectively were expected to be made to the Mayor and the Combined Authority in 2023.

Members raised the following questions and concerns:

·       Should Northern Rail be included as a fourth partner, given the strong integration between bus and rail and the Combined Authority’s existing close relationship with Northern Rail? These linkages would be kept – the Enhanced Partnership as prescribed by the Bus Services Act would be between the LTA, the Highway Authority and the bus companies, but rail and other forms of transport would still be important considerations.

·       Faster services would require bus priorities on corridors to implement – existing bus priority lanes had already shown a strong impact.

·       Including areas on the outskirts and housing estates would be vital, as well as places like employment zones, anchor organisations like hospitals, etc.

·       To achieve the aims of the National Bus Strategy, particularly cheaper fares, buy-in from bus operators would be required.

·       Would bus operators be bound by the BSIP? The aim of the BSIP was to develop a partnership with operators, and it was believed this would be beneficial for operators in terms of increasing numbers of passengers. If operators did not commit to this partnership, government funding could be affected, and the Combined Authority had the option of taking further franchising powers to direct bus operators.

·       How would success be measured? Targets would be set for patronage, average journey time, reliability, customer satisfaction measures, etc. This would inform the recommendation made to the Mayor and Combined Authority about pursuing franchising. However, it was recognised this would be made more difficult by the effect of pandemic on patronage, which was still in the process of recovering.

·       Integration between bus and other modes of transport, particularly cycle, were welcomed but would require proper infrastructure, such as secure structures/facilities for locking bikes. The difficulties of carrying heavier bikes in certain situations was also raised, as was the feasibility of bringing bikes onto buses.

Concerns were also raised that the strategy of a partnership had been attempted before with Local Transport Plans, and that bus services had been in decline for many years before the pandemic, with many cancellations and a loss of public trust in the service – what would make the BSIP succeed where previous attempts had not? Officers advised that this partnership was different in that it involved a structural change; it would fundamentally incorporate the funding streams, and would push operators to move toward things they had historically been averse to, such as multi-operator ticketing. Additionally, the historical loss of bus patronage reflected the national situation rather than anything unique to West Yorkshire.

It was also noted that for the bus network to grow, a new, modern, integrated approach had to be taken. The overall improvement of the bus service would go beyond the BSIP and would include measures being implemented as part of the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and through the Transforming Cities Fund. It would be important to integrate these measures and to work with operators to offer different models, such as the Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) as currently being trialled in East Leeds.