Summer 15 ATCO News
-
Upload
gina-clark -
Category
Documents
-
view
102 -
download
2
Transcript of Summer 15 ATCO News
- promoting professionalism in transport- sharing information and best practice- influencing policy
NEWSIssue 154 - Summer 2015
Sponsored by
Welcome from the Chair
Welcome to the summer edition of ATCO News. Although we are now well into the holiday season, there is little let up in work activities and demands. And the same is true of ATCO activities and the calls on ATCO to participate in various initiatives, or contribute to policy developments and wider thinking.
Summer training eventIn June, we had a truly excellent training event in Ipswich,
a report on which is contained elsewhere in this issue
of ATCO News. There was high praise from those who
attended. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking
everyone involved from the Eastern Region in organising
and managing the event, particularly to Niki Park for sorting
out the programme and Chris Pettifer for overseeing the
event planning and delivery. Thanks too to the event sponsor,
Truform, who have also sponsored this edition of ATCO News.
Winter eventPlanning is well underway for our next main event – our
winter training event and AGM on Wednesday 18 November,
which will again be held at the London Transport Museum.
The aim is to cover a mix of interesting topics that will
appeal to the broad range of members’ (and non-members’)
interests. Do look out for further details of this event in the
coming weeks and come along.
Coach & Bus LiveBefore then, we will be taking part in Coach & Bus Live at
the NEC. Many of you will have seen the first notifications
of this event in recent days. As in previous years, ATCO has
been provided with the opportunity to present a masterclass
session. This will be on the afternoon of Thursday 1 October.
We have chosen to focus on Total Transport, and a number of
speakers will highlight the work being undertaken to achieve
greater integration of different transport activities. The
session will also provide the opportunity for questions and a
panel discussion. Again, do make a note of the date and come
and join us. It is completely free to come along, and alongside
the masterclass you can wander around the rest of the Coach
& Bus Live exhibition and show, finding out about the latest
industry developments, products and vehicles. And, if you
book to attend the masterclass, you can join us for a buffet
lunch, arranged for us by Rescroft Ltd.
Working with governmentsOver recent months, we have further developed our
relationship with DfT. We have been asked to contribute to a
number of consultations and thoughts for the forthcoming
Buses Bill. Our Bus Executive has been busy collating thoughts
from our members to feedback to the DfT. Alongside this,
we have been co-ordinating activities associated with the
Total Transport initiative. Peter Hardy has been leading this
for us. This initiative really seems to be moving apace, and
we look forward to seeing some interesting outcomes from
the projects being funded. The newly-established ATCO Total
Transport National Executive will have its first meeting in
September, hosted by the DfT.
In Scotland, ATCO has contributed to work undertaken by JMP
for Transport Scotland, which is looking at potential changes
to the bus registration process to increase the level of
partnership working between operators and local authorities.
ATCOAmongst all the activity, the ATCO Board continues to
consider how the organisation can most efficiently and
effectively operate in the future. This may lead to some
changes in the coming year, but our aim is to maintain the core
principles of ATCO that have served us well for many years.
Finally, it is good to see our membership growing. Recently,
we have seen 20 new members join ATCO. Welcome to you –
please join in with ATCO’s activities as much as possible. It is by
contributing that members really gain so much from ATCO.
In these busy and changing times, I am keen to know
what people think of ATCO and what they want from the
organisation. Do feel free to contact me with any thoughts,
questions or ideas.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Chris WhiteATCO Chair
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
ATCO News Any views expressed in ATCO News are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of either their employing authority or of the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers.
Contributions to ATCO News are welcome from anyone with a Local Government transport interest. All material in ATCO News is the copyright of the individual author. No part of any material may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the author.
Enquiries about ATCO membership should be addressed to: ATCO, Hermes House, St Johns Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9UZ T: 0844 209 6556 F: 0844 209 6557 E: [email protected]
ATCO has a Web site, which includes recent back copies of ATCO News, at: www.atco.org.uk
Contents
Welcome from the Chair .................................. iiChris White
The Loop: Connecting The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel ...................................................... 4Christopher Cox
Queens Drive Eco Hub - turning a vision into reality .......................................................... 8Gina Clark
‘Making Buses Better’ ....................................10Alan Hill
Ellie the electric bus – reaching a younger generation ........................................................12Laraine Reckless
Halton Borough Council Independent Travel Training ...............................................................14Derek Donoghue
Traveline update ..............................................16
Challenges for Socially Necessary Bus Services Intensify Despite Falling Costs .19Robin Riley
‘Cuts on cuts – can we deliver safe, smart and sustainable transport?’ ..........................20Peter Hardy
Transport Service Solutions .........................26Sarah Tunstall
Editor’s note .....................................................29Peter Hardy
New Atco Members .........................................29
Contacts
BoardChair: Chris White T: 01273 481270 E: [email protected]
Vice-Chair: Paul Robson T: 01429 284163 E: [email protected]
ATCO Scotland: David Summers T: 01463 252956 E: [email protected]
ATCO Cymru: Richard Cope T: 01291 691313 E: [email protected]
Non Voting Member: Peter Stoner T: 07917 525679 E: [email protected]
Voting Member: Chris Pettifer T: 01234 228881 E: [email protected]
Voting Member: Karen Giles T: 01225 394371 E: [email protected]
Voting member: Steve Doel T: 01635 519106 E: [email protected]
Past Chair: David Blainey T: 0151 3301344 E: [email protected]
ExecutivesBus: John Pope E: [email protected]
Performance Group: John Carr T: 01484 860101 E: [email protected]
Publicity, Info & Ticketing: Andrew Varley T: 01772 533336 E: [email protected]
Total Transport: Peter Hardy T: 07977 268250 E: [email protected]
School Travel: Ian Gwenlan T: 01243 753535 E: [email protected]
Rail: Tony Francis T: 0208 460 0576 E: [email protected]
Regional RepresentativesEast Midlands: Anita Ruffle E: [email protected]
Eastern: Chris Pettifer (see ATCO Board above)
North East: Paul Robson (see ATCO Board above)
North West: David Blainey (see ATCO Board above)
Scotland: David Summers (see ATCO Board above)
South East: Andy Clarke T: 01296 383468 E: [email protected]
South West: Bruce Thompson T: 01392 383244 E: [email protected]
Wales: Richard Cope (see ATCO Board above)
West Midlands: Nigel Whyte T: 01926 735674 E: [email protected]
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
The Loop: Connecting The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel
Christopher Cox of Falkirk Council explains the evolution of a new tourist bus service
IntroductionFalkirk is situated in the heart of central Scotland almost
midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and the Falkirk
Council area includes the towns of Denny, Grangemouth and
Bo’ness.
Falkirk lies at the junction of the Union Canal and the Forth
and Clyde Canal. The area’s industrial heritage centred on the
iron and steel industries, with the Carron Company famous
worldwide for its Carronades and many other foundries,
including Machan Engineering, which are famous for
manufacturing post boxes. Like many other former industrial
towns, Falkirk is now primarily a service based economy,
but the nearby town of Grangemouth is a major industrial
centre and is the location of Scotland’s only oil refinery, a vast
petrochemical plant and the landfall of the Forties pipelines
from the North Sea.
Falkirk has lagged behind much of Scotland in terms of
tourism, but has historic attractions including the Antonine
Wall, Callander House (a mansion in the style of a French
Renaissance château set in mature woodland), Kinneil House
(built in 1677) and the Bo’ness and Kinneil heritage railway.
Falkirk arrived on the national and global tourist map in 2002
with the opening of the Falkirk Wheel, constructed as part of
the Millennium Link project which joined the historic Union
and Forth and Clyde Canals with a rotating boat lift—the
only one of its kind in the world. The lift raises vessels by 24
metres, replacing a flight of locks.
The Falkirk wheel had attracted 5.5 million visitors by summer
2014 and 514,000 people visited in 2014 alone, making it the
13th most popular attraction in Scotland, ahead of Stirling
Castle and New Lanark amongst others.
The success of the Falkirk Wheel has been dwarfed by the
new attraction at the River Forth end of the Forth and
Clyde Canal—the Helix Park, a £43m Big Lottery Fund Living
Landmarks project which regenerated a vast area between
northern Falkirk and Grangemouth and includes 27km of
off-road cycle-footways, a lagoon, a visitor centre (opening
October 2015), a canal extension with a lifting bridge, splay
and adventure play zones and an outdoor arena. The jewels
in the crown, however, are The Kelpies, the world’s largest
equine sculptures, which are over 30m high and stand guard
over the entrance to the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Kelpies
attracted over 1 million visitors in their first year, making them
the 7th most popular tourist attraction in Scotland.
With Success Came a ProblemThe Helix Park was designed as a sustainable community links
project and nobody could have predicted the sheer volume of
visitors who would come to see The Kelpies from all over the
world. The miniature Kelpie maquettes are in such demand
worldwide that an additional set had to be made and the
infrastructure in the surrounding area and within the Helix
Park itself simply cannot not cope with the number of visitors,
most of which arrive by car. There are only 250 car parking
spaces in the Helix Park, but an average of 2700 visitors per
day - so the nearby Falkirk Stadium hosts an overflow car park.
Following discussions between the stakeholders, who include
Scottish Canals, Falkirk Community Trust, Falkirk Council and
Visit Falkirk, discussions were held with First Scotland East
about the possibility of a tourist bus service to the Helix,
which evolved into an outline proposal for a bus to link The
Falkirk Wheel and the Helix Park to both main railway stations
in Falkirk. This proposal was developed into a draft timetable
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
4
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
5
for a bus service operating from The Falkirk Wheel via Falkirk
High Station, Falkirk Town Centre, Falkirk Grahamston Station,
The Kelpies, The Helix Park and Callander House. The Helix
Park is a community facility and does not charge for entry and
so there was no funding available to operate a bus service.
Therefore, Falkirk Council’s Transport Planning Unit took a
lead in the project, with a view to making a bid to Transport
Scotland’s Bus Investment Fund 2014/15.
The BidWith deadlines for submissions approaching fast, an outline
bid was drafted which included three elements - the bus
service, infrastructure improvements and marketing.
The bus service comprises two vehicles operating hourly from
each end with the idea being that passengers would buy a
day ticket and hop-on/hop-off the bus as required. Family and
concessionary tickets would also be available.
Some stakeholders initially proposed bespoke bus shelters,
but the Transport Planning Unit was keen that any new
bus shelters were easy to maintain in the long term but
would be distinctive so that tourists would be able to use
the bus service easily. Ultimately, Falkirk Council’s standard
Commutaports specification was used with the addition of
a solar tray and in ‘Visit Falkirk’ colours—this raised some
eyebrows in the office when the idea of pink bus shelters was
mentioned!
Marketing would be the responsibility of Visit Falkirk and
would concentrate on Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Perth.
It was aimed at encouraging visitors from further afield to use
the train to get to Falkirk and then change onto the “Loop” to
get to either Helix Park or Falkirk Wheel.
Following some discussions with Transport Scotland, the bid
was accepted with a soft launch on 3 April 2015 ahead of the
Easter Weekend. Funding was provided for a 6 month trial
service to assess demand.
Preparation and LaunchThe bid included £41,000 for the provision of new bus shelters
and bus stop flags, £22,500 for branding of the “Loop”
vehicles and additionally the branding of 9 new First Scotland
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
6
East micro-hybrid vehicles used on Service 3 and 4, which
provide connections to The Helix from other areas of Falkirk
and £22,500 for marketing. Operational costs of the service
of £135,000 were also included. The operation of the service
was let on a minimum cost basis and the intention is to use the
revenue to extend the operation at the end of the trial period.
Despite tight timescales, the new bus shelters were installed
the week before the service was due to start, all bus stops
served on the route were given new flags incorporating
the Visit Falkirk logo and the two vehicles to be used on the
service were liveried in full Visit Falkirk branding. The idea was
to make the service as simple as possible for tourists to use. So
far, we have received very positive reaction to the service and
branding.
Marketing included local press adverts and advertorial,
leaflets, online adverts, adverts on trains and radio coverage.
During the month of August, promotion will see holders of
valid train tickets receive a discount on a “Loop” day ticket,
to encourage visitors to make their entire journey by public
transport.
The branding includes a
frieze comprising The
Falkirk Wheel, The
Kelpies, Falkirk
Steeple, The Canals,
Callander House,
Blackness Castle
and the Hippodrome
cinema and is included
on the sides and rear of
the buses, the leaflets, all
advertising and within the bus shelters as part of the on-stop
publicity.
So FarAfter a soft launch before Easter, the service was formally
launched at the Falkirk Wheel at the end of May, alongside
one of the Kelpie maquettes. The service had carried over
10,000 passengers by the end of June despite the dismal
weather; patronage has increased steadily throughout July.
Funding for an on-going service, including the possibility of
an electric vehicle, is currently being discussed and we are
investigating possible sources of funding.
In terms of monitoring, on-bus surveys will be undertaken
during August to find out where passengers are coming from
and what their thoughts on the service are—this information
will be used to determine future advertising campaigns and
shape any extension of the service,
if funding can be secured.
Christopher Cox
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
7
Queens Drive Eco Hub - turning a vision into reality
Gina Clark of Nottingham City Council shows how one of Nottingham’s Park & Ride sites is more than just somewhere to catch a bus.
Taking the standard park and ride site and turning it into
something new and exciting has long been an ambition of
Nottingham City Council’s Public Transport team. It has now
become a reality with the creation of the Eco Hub at Queens
Drive Park & Ride.
The site has over 1,000 parking spaces, is open Monday to
Saturday and is serviced by two bus services, the Electric
Medilink service and the Citylink 1. But that’s not all; over
the past two years it has developed as a base to host lots of
activities and has infrastructure improvements to meet the
demands of Nottingham’s residents and visitors.
Creating a buzz Using electricity as a clean energy source to help deliver a
sustainable transport infrastructure is a key feature of the
Eco Hub. It has three electric vehicle charging points to serve
privately-owned vehicles with five dedicated charging bays -
one of which is used by Nottingham’s first fully electric City
Car Club car, part of the nationwide car hire scheme.
Alongside this are 27 trickle and 3 fast electric bus charging
points, to power the Council’s 45 strong electric Linkbus fleet.
These vehicles operate on 18 routes across Nottingham. It
is the UK’s largest electric bus fleet and one of the largest
in Europe, with a further 13 buses on order to be used on
park and ride services in 2016. And it doesn’t end there; solar
panels are used to illuminate signage on to ensure that no
opportunity for sustainability is missed.
Cycle City AmbitionsIn 2015, Nottingham received £6.1 million from the D2N2
Local Enterprise Partnership to kick start an overhaul of
Nottingham’s cycle facilities, with the aim of realising
Nottingham’s cycling ambitions to turn itself into a Cycle City.
Reflecting the city’s ambitions, Queens’s Drive offers a variety
of cycling opportunities for local residents and visitors. With
its links to Nottingham’s Big Track (a 10 mile round cycle
route), Queen’s Drive is a great site for anyone who wishes to
come and ride the track alongside the picturesque River Trent.
The site also offers Citycard Cycles hire, the council’s bike hire
scheme (currently free during Summer 2015), which allows
individuals to hire bikes from one of over 25 cycle stands
across the city for as little as a minute to an entire day. There
is also a Pump and Skills Track, launched in July 2015, offering
a multi terrain track for residents and visitors to use to train
and develop their cycling skills. The track, built by Clixby’s, has
been used by local BMX groups across Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire, with a view to hold more formal races and group
activities throughout the summer months.
A Citycard Cycle hub is also available on site for secure parking
for either their own bike or Citycard cycle. The hub is fitted
with CCTV and a Citycard smartcard accessible locking system,
accommodating those that cycle a distance to the site and
then get the bus into the city centre.
On one Sunday per month during the spring and summer, the
site hosts Cycling for All events run by local cycling charity,
Ridewise. At the events, cyclists of all abilities are able to take
advantage of free cycle instruction and bike maintenance, part
funded by Local Sustainable Transport Funding.
Encouraging safer drivingAs well as opening the space up to cyclists, the site also offers
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
8
a brilliant space for Admiral Young driver training lessons, so
young drivers can learn the driving basics before they reach
test age, giving them the ability and knowledge for safer
driving.
A walk on the wild sideTaking advantage of the natural surroundings, a woodland
walk and wildflower meadow has been created to provide a
place to enjoy a scenic short walk, exploring the plants and
insects near the river. Idyllic fishing spots are also available just
beyond the site, further along the River Trent.
Improving information servicesAt the centre of the park and ride site is the Eco Cabin.
Staffed during operational hours 6 days a week, it provides
information and advice to visitors about the services available.
The Cabin also has electronic real time information totems
and toilet facilities.
For more information on the Eco Hub visit
www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/queensdrive
Gina ClarkProjects Officer with Nottingham City Council. Further information about the project can be obtained from Gina at [email protected]
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
9
‘Making Buses Better’
It’s rather obvious really; surely everyone wants everything to be better so what’s so special about buses? Perhaps we should look from the other end of the telescope; what would life be like without buses? We often hear tales of woe when there’s a problem on the railways making people late to work and, of course, this is an issue. However, only 1½ billion journeys are made by train annually whilst buses account for well over five billion journeys. Almost four times as many people travel by bus. Imagine our towns and cities, our suburbs, our rural areas without buses. Imagine the congestion; imagine the economic cost; imagine the social exclusion. Buses already contribute significantly towards local and national objectives but they could do more.
A new report, ‘Making Buses Better’1, launched at the ATCO
Summer Training Event, puts forward an agenda for change,
showing how buses can contribute more to economic, social
and environmental well-being and deliver financial and
market objectives. The report was produced by the TAS Policy
Exchange2, which was established by the late Peter Huntley to
identify areas where research might benefit the development
of public transport policy. It comprises individual independent
professionals with substantial experience of the transport
sector in both the public and private sectors, three of whom
are retired ATCO members including two former Chairmen.
As well as local transport authority officers and bus company
managers, the report is aimed at politicians and members of
LEPs and combined authorities and their policy advisors. The
aim is to show what buses can do for local and national policy
objectives whilst maintaining, as far as possible, commercial
viability.
Preparation of the report involved reviewing empirical
evidence to understand what constitutes success and
exploring issues that can be replicated elsewhere to help
buses contribute towards society’s goals and, in particular,
the improvement of local economic conditions. We set out a
series of measures by which bus network performance can be
judged, including trips per head of the population, customer
satisfaction and punctuality scores, patronage growth and
movements in the ‘Time Cost’ of bus journeys in relation to
local economic and demographic conditions.
The key issue is journey time and we focus on this in particular.
People value their time; it features in various studies and
modelling can demonstrate how time can be a significant
modal choice factor. We explain the concept of Generalised
Costs modelling in terms of the ‘Time Costs’ of bus and car
journeys. We also demonstrate the impact of journey times
on the economics of operating a bus service. Quite simply,
if a bus cannot do its journey efficiently, more resources are
1 Published by TAS Publications & Events Limited on behalf of the TAS Policy Exchange Limited, 2015.
2 See TAS Policy Exchange website (http://www.taspolicyexchange.co.uk)
needed to maintain frequencies and operating costs rise,
jeopardising service viability unless fares rise. And, if fares rise,
the bus becomes less attractive as well as taking longer.
With regard to this, it is interesting to note the impact of
the removal of bus lanes in Liverpool3. It is reported that
journey times have increased such that nine extra buses have
3 See ‘Bus lane cuts cost revealed’, routeone, 8th July 2015 ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
10
been needed in order to maintain Arriva’s city network, with
unpredictability also being a difficult issue.
We recognise the value of partnership and especially how
neither local authorities nor bus operators individually can
achieve success to match that gained through working
together. Seminars with two representative panels of bus
operators and local authority officers revealed more areas
of mutual agreement than issues that might divide the two
‘sides’.
On the issue of re-regulation or franchising, we found no
evidence to support the oft-quoted ‘solution’ that public
control would provide better bus services. In particular,
nothing suggests that the question of control provides any
answers to the key issue of journey times. The only caveat to
this is where a bus market is demonstrably failing and, here,
we recognise the potential benefits of ATCO’s Tendered
Network Zones model4 which seeks to integrate private and
public sector inputs.
We explored bus company profits, finding that profit levels
are generally barely adequate for the constant reinvestment
needed to meet increasing customer expectations. We also
demonstrate that use of public funds is rarely a subsidy to
the bus operator (as critics claim) but, instead, involves the
purchase of specific services or a subsidy to specific groups of
passengers.
Conversely, it has been estimated that the bus industry is
worth £45 billion annually to the national economy. Bus
companies are significant local employers, offering training
opportunities in driving, engineering and other transferable
skills. Additionally, investment in new vehicles and other
equipment supports UK manufacturing jobs. Also, bus
passengers contribute to local economies when they reach
their destinations (estimated at some £27 billion of retail and
leisure expenditure)5.
It may be superficially easy for decision-makers and their
advisors to accept the dominance of cars and thus question
why buses should be afforded any special consideration or
priority. Instead, the basic facts need consideration; how
buses provide an alternative to car journeys; how it’s rarely
possible to build our way out of congestion; how more cars
4 The Local Transport Act 2008 Quality partnership schemes: Statutory guidance to English local transport authorities and metropolitan district councils, March 2009, paragraph 7.
5 See Greener Journeys (www.greenerjourneys.com/benefits/growing-the-economy)
usually equals more congestion; how congestion stifles local
economic prospects.
In summary, our towns and cities need to accommodate
business traffic that supports jobs and delivers goods to our
shops; more bus journeys instead of more car journeys will
help. Better bus services that attract more passengers will
help in the battle against congestion. They will also enable
more people who do not have a car to gain access to 16+
education, training and jobs to help provide a wider pool of
labour to support the local economy.
We recommend that policy formulation should recognise
the importance and measurement of the ‘Time Costs’ of a
bus journey. Comparing this with the ‘Time Costs’ of a similar
car journey can show where interventions are best focused.
We believe that a detailed focus on a process of continuous
improvement in journey times can deliver a virtuous circle of
growth, quality and investment. Our recommendations are
based on an examination of the economics of bus operation as
well as a review of what is working well in places where buses
experience high levels of patronage and satisfaction.
We make a variety of recommendations mostly based on
better partnership working and greater communications
between all interested parties which should lead to a better
understanding by authorities and operators of each other’s
issues and priorities.
The above paragraphs are a taster of what the report covers.
Do read it. It can be downloaded from www.taspublications.
co.uk. It may help inform the debate in your area about how
to improve the local economy by building on the existing
resource that your local bus services offer.
Alan HillSecretary, TAS Policy Exchange andformer Chairman, ATCO Bus Executive
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
11
Ellie the electric bus – reaching a younger generation
With its push for electric buses, Nottingham City Council’s Laraine Reckless tells us all about Ellie
Reaching a new audience is difficult, especially in the
transport field. So, Nottingham City Council’s Public Transport
team has created a series of children’s story books aimed at
3-6 year olds.
Ellie was first introduced as a concept to our twitter and
facebook users as a teaser campaign a few weeks prior to
the launch. It generated keen interest and managed to reach
over 155,000 individuals through Transport Nottingham and
MyNottingham accounts, with many comments received
about how the new idea might unfold.
To help reach our future public transport users through
storytelling, we created the first book in the series in March
2015 – Ellie the electric bus was born at the electric network
event in Nottingham’s Market Square.
To keep the imagination of the readers alive, Ellie (a real
locallink electric bus) was kitted out with a smile, eye lashes
and her own bus stop! The Market Square event was a great
success, with primary schools and families coming to visit Ellie
for a story time and sing along onboard,
and to find out all about
electricity and safer travel.
Ellie has visited schools and
events around Nottingham,
to help spread the word about
electricity as a fuel and how
to travel safely on the bus,
particularly in the Bulwell area
of the city where the story is
based. Our sustainability and
environment team also joined
our partnership with their schools’ energy officer, reading the
Ellie story to all City primary school year 6s to help explain
about energy saving and protecting the environment for the
future.
Our library services partners were able to have books for
distribution at the 16 City libraries - a fantastic outlet for
the book that also gives the library services an opportunity
to introduce new parents to the many services offered
for toddlers at the libraries. Plus our partners Nottingham
Community Transport, who operate Ellie on our behalf,
handed out little cards to collect a free Ellie book from the
library.
We’ve given out over 4,500 books to young future public
transport users and hope to sway their future travel choices to
a more environmental option of bus or tram.
We have just finished the next book in the series - Kevin the
kangaroo goes to the beach. This story is based in Clifton
where the new tram line will open soon. Our multi-operator
ticket – the Kangaroo - has come to life in the form of Kevin
the kangaroo.
Kevin and his class mates are going on a school trip to
Nottingham’s annual beach installation in the Market Square,
catching an electric bus, then hopping onto a tram. The book
explains how to ‘beep’ your pass before boarding the tram,
and how both the tram and bus run on electricity, a clean and
environmentally friendly energy.
For more information, or to download your own copy of the
books, visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/ptbooks
Laraine Reckless
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
12
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
13
Halton Borough Council Independent Travel Training
‘Train the Trainer’ course
Independent Travel Training is an in-depth process which
enables people, usually with additional needs, to be able to
travel independently, rather than relying on assisted transport
or support from another person. A range of topics are covered
with the service user to ensure that they have the correct
skills, knowledge and confidence to undertake journeys
themselves. In Halton we deliver training on walking, cycle,
bus and train journeys to ensure that our service users have
the greatest opportunities to achieve as much independence
as possible.
Independent Travel Training is an extremely worthwhile
project which has far reaching benefits for not only the
service users, but also their parents / carers, family and
friends, schools, colleges, employers, day centres, the wider
community and also for local authorities. The individual gains
positive outcomes from undertaking the training, which
they can then utilise as they continue to travel on their own.
Education, employment and social opportunities are easier
to access when an individual feels more confident and has
the ability to engage in those opportunities under their own
steam. Local authorities benefit financially from service users
no longer requiring assisted transport to attend schools,
colleges, employment or day centres. These financial benefits
can add up to significant year-on-year savings for authorities.
Halton Borough Council’s Independent Travel Training project
was set up in 2005. Since then in excess of 400 individuals
have accessed the service, with over 300 of those achieving
independent travel. This has led to over £2.2m of transport
costs being saved for the authority. Halton is only a small
borough, with about 126,000 residents, with only one
Independent Travel Trainer and the project delivered to 11-19
year olds; therefore larger authorities with more trainers and
delivering to a wider age range would see greater financial
savings.
At Halton, we are delivering an accredited training course to
equip people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to be
able to deliver Independent Travel Training to service users.
The accreditation is for a Level 2 certificate in an ‘Introduction
to Training for Travel Trainers’ and is awarded through
Open Awards. This training is aimed at anybody who may
deliver Independent Travel Training as part of their working /
volunteer or parental / carers role, such as- support staff, key
workers, parents, carers, local authority staff, and potential
Independent Travel Trainers.
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
14
The ‘Train the Trainer’ course follows a structured plan which
equips delegates with the skills and knowledge they need
to start delivering Independent Travel Training. Courses
are delivered through two days of theory-based training
and then delegates are allocated a case study to return to
their workplace to complete. The two days theory training
covers all aspects of delivering Independent Travel Training,
including:
• Referrals
• Individual Assessments
• Home Visits
• Risk Assessments
• Journey Planning
• Delivery of Practical Training
• Monitoring Forms
• Shadowing
• Final Reports
• Road Safety
• Personal Safety
• Communication Skills
• Preparing for a Journey
• Planning a Journey
Delegates are given practical activities to carry out during
the two training room based days, providing an opportunity
to put some of the theory into practice. Those who have
attended previous courses have given great feedback about
the practical activities, as it gives a good, albeit brief, insight
into some of the work they will be expected to undertake
as an Independent Travel Trainer. Each delegate receives a
copy of the Halton Independent Travel Training Toolkit, which
gives advice and guidance regarding delivering Independent
Travel Training (Toolkits normally retail at £100). Delegates
also receive a copy of Halton’s Independent Travel Training
DVD, which demonstrates how our project is delivered, shows
case studies and has interviews with parents, school staff and
employers. Unlimited support is given to delegates when they
return to their workplace to complete their case studies. One
month is given to complete a case study of a trainee that has
been trained, is currently being trained or will be trained in
the future.
To date we have delivered this ‘Train the Trainer’ course to
staff in Halton Borough Council, St Helens, Southampton,
Liverpool, Cheshire West and Chester and Solihull Councils.
Courses are delivered either in Halton or Derek can travel to
your authority to deliver the training.
For more information please contact:
Derek DonoghueIndependent Travel Training Co-OrdinatorHalton Borough [email protected]: 0151 511 7568 M: 07769 927 815
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
15
Traveline update
Traveline is changing. And changing fast. If you haven’t already seen our new look and feel, or tried our multi-modal GB wide journey planner, take a visit to traveline.info or download one of our Traveline GB apps.
Our core objective is to promote public transport passenger
growth and enable the delivery of high quality mobility
information across a mix of channels in a way that represents
best value to our stakeholders. We do this by listening to
our customers and stakeholders and continually improving
our services. We want to do more by offering free journey
planning tools to our stakeholders as we move into the second
half of 2015.
We already receive over a million journey plan requests per
month from our Traveline GB journey planning services and
provide over 4 million journey plan and timetable responses.
We provide information about next departures from all GB
stops via our NextBuses interface at a rate of 22 million
responses per month. We haven’t begun promoting our
services yet and we’re still growing. Customer demand is
certainly there.
In October 2014 we re-designed our Traveline GB website to
add a GB journey planner and move to a clean uncluttered
design. We added a GB journey planning app for iOS to our
services in January this year, and followed that closely with
one for Android in April. Next departures, including live data
from 42 Local Authority real time systems and our most
recent from First Manchester, and timetable look up for all
bus services in GB were added in July. This is a significant first.
And there is always room for improvement.
Our apps include the ability to track where you are en route
and to have audio stop announcements from your phone
either in journey or for the next buses at the stop you’re at.
Our Apple watch app went live in May.
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
16
First Group is already using our journey planning interface
to help build its new website design, with its own search,
design and front end. We want to extend that and other, free,
services to third parties and our Local Authority and operator
stakeholders.
We’re a key provider of transport open data for the UK and
are listed in the National Information Infrastructure http://
data.gov.uk/library/odug-national-information-infrastructure-
nii . We provide a weekly updated national dataset of all
routes and times for registered services, and an interface
for developers to get the next bus and metro departures
from every stop in England, Scotland and Wales. We include
real time where it’s made available to us and blend it with
scheduled data so that every service at a stop is shown.
Our open data journey planner users include Google, First
Group, Moovit, and Rome2Rio. Many Local Authorities or
their agents use the data for accessibility planning and
other in-house research. We re-designed our data website at
travelinedata.org.uk in April this year to better cater for our
open data customers and allow a single point of access to
public transport open data.
We also answer telephone calls, providing journey planning
information on 0871 200 22 33. It’s our smallest channel with
an average of 3000 calls per day. It costs us more to provide
than every other part of our GB service added together, and
call revenues from using an 0871 number barely cover one
quarter of the call handling cost. It’s the service for which we
made our name. Which for many reasons that there isn’t room
to go into here may not always have been a good thing. But
we’re even changing that.
We recognise that some customers need to be able to call
us and we remain committed to providing our telephone
channel. So we’ll be moving to a single call centre for England
from 1st October 2015, which will improve the customer
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
17
experience, reduce their call costs through shorter calls, and
save our stakeholders hundreds of thousands of pounds.
There will be no cost to Local Authorities for call handling,
unless they are a transport provider, or for invoicing operators
for call costs or debt collection.
Partnership working at a regional and a national level is one of
the building blocks to our success. Without Traveline regional
organisations, data supply, shared expertise and a passion for
what we’re doing we wouldn’t be able to provide the services
that we have.
We see these regional partnerships and joint working as a
fundamental part of the future provision of public transport
information in the UK and to the future of the Traveline GB
services as we further improve services to customers and
provide more cost savings to our Local Authority stakeholders.
There is still much to do. We can use disruption feeds in a Siri
SX format to integrate into our services. Some of our partners
such as Traveline South East and Anglia, and others, have
software that provide this data and we’re currently working
with them to have some sample data to develop against.
We also plan to link to Operator fares pages as a first step
towards telling our customers how much their journey might
cost.
We operate as a not for profit company and our Board of
Directors include representatives from ATCO, PTEG, Transport
Focus, The Confederation of Passenger Transport, National
Rail Enquiries, ALBUM, First Group, Stagecoach, Arriva, and Go
Ahead.
If you’d like any further information about any of our services,
are considering using the Traveline GB journey planner instead
of developing local solutions, would like to embed our free
journey planning tools in your own web services, want to be
kept up to date with what we’re doing, or have ideas and
suggestions about how we can improve what we do please
contact [email protected].
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
18
Challenges for Socially Necessary Bus Services Intensify Despite Falling Costs
Costs of replacing local bus contracts have fallen for the 6th consecutive year according to the results of the Association of Transport Co-Ordinating Officers (ATCO) 2014 Price Expenditure and Competition (PEC) Survey.
The seventeenth annual PEC survey, shows that the cost of replacing local bus contracts fell by an average of 2.9% in the past 12 months.
75 out of 130 Local Transport Authorities outside London responded to the survey which represents a 58% response rate from authorities covering 61% of the total population of England (outside London), Scotland and Wales. It gives a unique snapshot of transport spending by local authorities. This falls into three categories, contracts for socially necessary local bus services, education transport and special educational needs (SEN) transport. In more detail:
• Last year local authorities said that in order to maintain
existing levels of support for socially necessary local buses,
budgets would have to increase by an average of around
4.4% whereas in practice local authority budgets were
reduced by 2.9%;
• Some 36% of local authorities overall said they will cut
services by March 2015 in order to stay within budget (up
from 26% last year);
• 18% of authorities reported a decrease in the rate of
de-registrations compared with last year. The number
of authorities reporting an increase in the rate of de-
registrations was 20%. Overall, 62% of authorities
reported that the rate of de-registrations was about the
same as last year.
• The average rate of local bus service de-registrations since
1 April 2014 has increased marginally.
• The local authority spending cuts are offset in part by the
continuing falls in contract prices, but formerly commercial
services also meet social needs leading to pressures for
authorities to support replacement services which often
cannot be achieved;
• Costs of replacing school transport contracts fell by an
average of 3.1% in the past 12 months to September
2014, for the 8th consecutive year with local authorities
estimating that they would need a 2.1% budget growth to
retain existing school transport service levels;
• The cost of replacing SEN transport contracts fell, again
for the 8th consecutive year, by an average of 3.2% but
local authorities estimate that they will need 2.5% budget
growth next year to retain existing SEN transport service
levels
ATCO Performance Group Chair John Carr said: “At first glance these may appear to be good news. However, the reality is that continuing swingeing cuts in local authority funding decreed by the Government - apparently without detailed analysis of the impact on the public - mean that authorities just cannot afford to support all the services for which there are real social needs. A particular concern is that the cost of
concessionary travel largely determined by the Government itself continues to rise and must be paid as a first call on transport budgets. This leaves even less money to support bus services. As a result, many disabled and elderly people are perplexed that although the Government has said they can continue to enjoy free bus travel (except at morning peak time) they cannot actually do so because their bus services are disappearing!”
Chair of ATCO Bus Executive John Pope added: “The sting in the tail is that operators are really squeezing their margins to keep prices as low as possible year on year. We know that this has knock on effects such as keeping old vehicles for longer so the quality of service inevitably falls as well. As commercial bus services may be reduced too as operators face up to their own cost pressures, the travelling public are faced with a double whammy which neither authorities nor operators can avoid.”
ATCO has also published the results of the 2014 Benchmarking Survey which was carried out for the seventh consecutive year with 87 out of 130 authorities responding. Key indicators from the Survey include:
• Annual spend on local bus services per head of population
over the last 8 years has fallen only by 5.6% to £5.70,
although the peak was £6.74 in 2011;
• The cost of concessionary travel paid by local authorities
over the last 8 years (principally for pensioners) has
increased by 40% to £76.44 per qualifying person;
• Education and SEN transport costs per pupil were £807
and £4,366 respectively, around 24% and 18% higher than
in 2007.
Chair of the ATCO Education and Specialist Transport Executive Ian Gwenlan said “Although both authorities and their contractors have continued to devise innovative approaches to meeting requirements whilst controlling costs, inevitably we cannot continue to meet the same levels of service within ever reducing budgets.”
ATCO is repeating both the surveys in 2015. All local authorities have been strongly encouraged to participate to ensure that results are fully representative and robust. The closing date for the Benchmarking survey has been extended to the end of August recognising that more time is needed as many authorities have had to reduce staffing levels too. The highly respected Price, Expenditure and Competition Survey will be issued in September as usual.
For further information please contact:
Robin RileySecretary, ATCO Performance Group T: 0115 977 4520 E: [email protected]
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
19
‘Cuts on cuts – can we deliver safe, smart and sustainable transport?’
Peter Hardy reflects on this summer’s ATCO training event in Ipswich, which considered a wide range of subjects across all areas of passenger transport.
James Finch, portfolio holder at Suffolk County Council,
welcomed delegates to Ipswich. He reflected on the dilemma
of meeting the needs of rural communities across Suffolk,
whilst budgets were being squeezed. He highlighted his
authority’s Travel Transformation Programme that was
looking to do things differently – working with others, taking
integrated approaches, developing the devolution agenda and
reviewing current practices. He hoped that delegates would
enjoy the event, benefitting from sharing experiences.
SafeguardingNext, it was straight into the serious matter of safeguarding.
Martin Stringfellow and Niki Park of Norfolk County Council
explained the approach taken across the authority to highlight
that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. In particular, it
was felt that more needed to be done to inform and educate
transport operators.
The starting point for this was the provision of more
information and guidance, with specific leaflets and a film
being produced. All transport operators and their staff were
written to about their responsibilities. With raised awareness,
the County Council started to receive concerns and queries
from drivers and staff. This highlighted that key messages
were not being passed onto drivers by operators. As a
consequence, operators approached the County Council to
run sessions for their drivers.
In these sessions, drivers are told to report concerns about
individuals who:
• Regularly seem unfed or unkempt
• Are bruised or have injuries
• Talk about violence at home
• For their age act in appropriate ways
Staff and drivers are told that if a young person tells them
something in confidence:
• Never promise to keep a secret
• Listen, but don’t ask questions
• Tell them that you will have to tell someone
• Be friendly, but professional
• Take things seriously
• Report it to County Council staff immediately
Also, drivers are told never to:
• Share personal contact details with passengers
• Engage with them on social media
• Make unnecessary physical contact
• Buy gifts or sweets
• Take photographs of passengers
• Make detours from the route at the request of a passenger
• Use bad or inappropriate language
• Become involved in arguments
In terms of their conduct, drivers are reminded always to
remain professional and to keep appropriate boundaries,
and to be aware of how their actions might look to others.
And if an allegation is made about a driver, it will always be
investigated. This may mean that a driver is suspended from
contracts while the investigation takes place. Other agencies
may be involved. The outcome might be a warning, their
badge being withdrawn, criminal charges or no further action.
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
20
The key message in the information sessions for drivers is that
they are important. By following guidelines, using common
sense and seeking advice when unsure about something, good
safeguarding will result and everyone will be protected.
Rail and Busways The next topic looked at the development of rail services in
Denver, the results of a study visit by Stephen Pauling, assisted
by ATCO’s Martin Robertson Bursary last year (and reported
previously in ATCO News).
Joseph Whelan then whisked us to Cambridge to report on
the busway, which parallels the A14 corridor between St Ives
and the city. In its 3rd year, patronage reached 3.5m, double
the level of usage in year 1. An analysis of users shows that
58% are female, 83% are of working age and 80% come from
car-owning households. 51% are from the £20-50k income
group. Journey purposes are 40% commuting, 20% education
and 19% shopping.
There is an exclusive agreement with 2 operators for use of
the busway. In return, operators agree to meet certain quality
and customer care standards. Features of the service are
free wifi on buses and at park and ride stations, smartcards, a
smartcard app, and 85% of the bus fleet uses biofuel.
There is a 25km continuous cycleway alongside the busway.
On the northern section, almost 1000 cyclists use it per day;
while the busier southern section sees some 1600 cyclists per
day.
Jonathan Denby of Abellio then looked at what the company
was doing in respect of its Greater Anglia franchise, which
covers 140 stations and involves 2700 employees. Particular
progress to note was:
• Upgrades to some stations, more ticket vending machines,
and introduction of free wifi at 120 stations
• Refurbishment of trains
• Cycle hire introduced at 14 stations, with a cycle point at
Chelmsford with spaces for 1000 cycles
• Improved bus links (Audley End – Bishops Stortford;
Halesworth – Southwold) with integrated ticketing
• Cab and Go taxi booking
• 90 stations have volunteer station adopters
The company has been working with others to push for
funding to upgrade the Great Eastern Main Line. A business
case has been established and following the establishment
of a taskforce by government, the Conservative Election
Manifesto made specific reference to the GEML upgrade
aspirations. The DfT has now included these aspirations into
the new franchise prospectus for 2016.
Following its recent award of the Scotrail franchise, Jonathan
briefly outlined some of the commitments Abellio had made,
in particular recognising the role in wider society that the
railway has:
• Development of Community Rail Partnerships and getting
more volunteers involved
• Adopt a station
• Station Regeneration Fund
• Engaging with schools
• Allowing staff to volunteer during work time to take part
in community projects
On the second day, there were 2 different thematic streams
– one looking at client transport and the other at local buses
and smartcards.
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
21
Client transportThe client transport session opened with Chris Pettifer of
Bedford Borough Council talking about lessons learnt from
a tragedy involving the death of a 91 year old passenger,
following a fall from a vehicle tail-lift. The man was being
transported from a day centre on an in-house minibus with
an experienced driver and passenger assistant. He had been
using transport for 18 months, but had only just returned
from a period of not using transport for 6 weeks due to
being in hospital. In the afternoon, the man collapsed (as a
result of a stroke) while on the tail-lift and fell through the
gap between the vehicle and the handrail. He was taken to
hospital by ambulance and died 2 weeks later. There were
anecdotal reports that on the day of the incident the man had
had some dizzy bouts while at the centre.
Following the accident, there was an investigation by the
police and Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which looked at
various pieces of evidence: vehicle documentation, personnel
and training records, risk assessments, communications.
The findings from the investigation were that:
• The gap between vehicle and handrail presented a risk,
and an adaption to the door was needed to reduce the gap
• An additional risk assessment for the needs of the user
should have been undertaken following the return from
hospital and before using the transport again
• All internal communications need to be documented
HSE requirements are that the following need to be
demonstrated for all transport:
Vehicle Driver User Route Communication
Standard documents;
Tail-lift testing;
Defect testing;
Risk assessment;
Equipment testing
Standard documents;
Qualifications;
Personnel records;
Training records
Assessment of needs;
Risk assessment of current needs
Appropriate;
Assessed for vehicle
Clear;
Secure;
Real time (i.e. what has happened in the day centre that day)
Having received the findings, the Council was confident about
its own fleet. It is replacing its vehicles, has introduced risk
assessments for users following breaks in using transport
and is improving its real time communication reporting.
However, the question was: would all of the documentation
and processes have been demonstrated for an external
contractor? In response, the Council has taken the decision
that all ‘high dependency’ transport needs will be met using
in-house vehicles. This will ensure consistency and will involve
regular monitoring and review of needs and requirements.
Paul Meadows of Northamptonshire went on to describe the
progress being made there in terms of procurement and other
processes. Recent improvements include:
• Working with parent groups and the introduction of a
Transport Board
• Use of one page profiles for each user
• Use of transport social stories to help prepare children
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
22
with autism for using transport
• Transport inductions at primary schools to assist with
transition
• All drivers and passenger assistants trained in challenging
behaviours
• Safeguarding and safer recruitment for operators
• Presentations on acceptable behaviour at new driver
training sessions held arranged by the licensing authority
In a total transport approach, the NHS has started to use the
County Council’s procurement frameworks and is achieving
savings.
The County Council is introducing GLIMPSE, a software system
supplied by ACL that will maintain all records electronically,
as well as looking after passenger and vehicle bookings. It will
enable electronic records of vehicle checks, track vehicles,
produce alerts when passengers are not picked up, contain all
routes and passenger data, handle all new transport requests,
allow better vehicle management and monitor driver habits.
Lynnette Marks of Dudley Council outlined the approach taken
to personal travel budgets (PTBs), which had been offered to
parents since last year. Of 800 pupils receiving transport (at a
cost of about £3m), there are currently 58 children on PTBs.
The system works as follows:
• Following initial contact with parents, a home visit is
arranged
• The visit enables an assessment to be undertaken of the
family’s situation and any barriers identified
• If the parents agree to a PTB, a budget is based on
distance between home and school (x2) at a mileage rate
(which is not a set rate) that is based on the child’s and
family’s needs
• The parent signs an agreement confirming that they
will transport their child safely and securely and that
attendance at school will be maintained
So far, no problems have been experienced and actual savings
of £95k have been achieved. One example where it has
worked well was where the authority used to arrange a taxi
to take the parent and child to school at a cost of £40 per day.
The parent found that she could arrange a taxi for £17 per
day, so went down the line of having a PTB in order to do this.
The important thing about introducing PTBs is having
opportunities to talk to parents. Therefore, in future, any
new pupil referrals will lead to an assessment of needs and a
meeting with parents to talk about PTBs (or Travel Support
Allowance, as they will be referred to in Dudley in future).
Chantal Chaervey (vice chair of the Suffolk Parent Carer
Network) gave a parent’s eye view of transport arrangements,
based around her experience of dealing with Suffolk County
Council regarding her son’s requirements. She talked of the
need for consistency of drivers and passenger assistants and
her offer to provide specific training to the staff in the needs
of her son that had been rejected. She felt that it was very
difficult to get to talk to the right people in the authority;
therefore, the Carer Network was seeking to work with the
County Council to improve the situation and create a more
comprehensive approach.
Ian Gwenlan of West Sussex County Council talked about
experiences of doing school transport reviews, some of which
had gone well and others that had not. He offered thoughts
on what made a review work well. Preparation was crucial,
ensuring that information about current arrangements is up
to date and correct and that all background information (e.g.
care plans) was included. Communication was important,
particularly with a need to talk as early as possible with
schools, parent groups, operators and in-house staff. Then
proper consultation should occur, where full details of the
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
23
review are explained together with why it is being done.
Overall, key principles to adopt for any review are:
• Honesty
• Transparency
• Ask
• Listen
• Act
Bus services and smart ticketingChris Cheek of TAS gave some thoughts on the current
challenges for buses, which he considered were as follows:
• Debates around regulation and organisation (e.g.
devolution)
• How technological advances can be best harnessed
• Financial pressures from public spending cutbacks
• Customers’ expectations
On devolution, he considered that thinking was not joined-
up and that changes were being suggested as a knee-jerk
reaction to changing events and thinking. He saw that
there would be cross-boundary issues between areas
where franchising was introduced and those that continued
as present. He warned against change for its own sake,
suggesting that the devil would be in the detail.
Financial pressures were a real threat to bus networks, as
local authorities reduced their funding for supported services.
Furthermore, Chris reminded us that government still had to
conclude its review of BSOG: would we see the removal of
this, which would have a greater impact on rural services?
Chris considered that it was important to go back to basics
with transport policy, focusing on the customer. The bus
can support the economy, helping people access jobs. It can
support environmental aspirations and help achieve improved
air quality in cities, and it has a social role in facilitating access
to services, particularly for those with no access to a car. There
was opportunity for the bus to contribute more towards
society’s goals. However, the bus needs help in achieving
this – a key factor is the need to reduce journey times by bus.
Highway authorities and planners can play significant roles by
introducing progressive policies on bus priority, car parking
and parking charges and by ensuring that new developments
are easily accessible by buses.
Within this stream, there was an in-depth look at Norfolk’s
smart ticketing project (Norfolk Holdall). Research had been
undertaken before and after its introduction on park and
ride services. Passengers had welcomed the introduction of
smart ticketing and its ease of use. However, because the
Holdall was introduced at the same time as changes to the
fare structure, it was difficult to disentangle views on the two
issues.
Overall, it was seen as a good thing that fares were cheaper
using the Holdall than paying by cash, and passengers liked
not having to carry cash. Some considered that boarding
was quicker and generally the view was that it was seen as
‘modern’. On the downside, passengers were not able to top
up their cards at machines at park and ride sites, the readers
seemed to take time to read the cards, and people couldn’t
understand why cards couldn’t be used on other buses across
Norfolk. People wanted to see the system work like the
London Oyster, whereby the system deducts the appropriate
amount according to usage and times. Also, people wanted
to be able swap between different products and the ‘purse’
element.
SWSAL is the managed service provider for Norfolk’s
smartcards. Andrew Seedhouse of SWSAL outlined the various
services that it offers to its members, which currently include
19 local authorities, 15 bus operators and the Welsh Assembly
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
24
Government. The organisation is free to join, providing access
to a number of call-off contracts for different services.
Integration and StrategyOn the final day, Peter Hardy of JMP Consultants outlined
the Total Transport initiative being funded by the DfT, and
detailed ATCO’s role in this.
Peter Walker of West Berkshire Council talked about its Total
Transport project, whereby it is taking a comprehensive look
at all transport resources. The project’s objectives are to:
•• Identify needs
•• Identify available resources
•• Assemble an asset database and undertake resource
mapping
•• Understand barriers and seek to overcome them
•• Use resources in a more co-ordinated way
•• Provide greater access
•• Share knowledge
As part of its project, it was keen to get the health sector on
board. This was also true in East Riding, and David Boden
outlined the similar Total Transport project there. Already, all
different types of services had been identified and mapped
– the aim was to achieve a one-stop shop for transport and
to unlock money in different budgets that might help fund
transport improvements.
Finally, Helen Morris of Essex County Council talked about the
development of its new Bus Strategy. In this are 8 areas of
action:
•• Partnership working with bus operators to achieve
commercial growth
•• Customer quality
•• Better, well used services
•• Support for valuable, but not commercial, services
•• Good customer information
•• Tailored solutions
•• Ticketing
•• Focused local planning
Peter HardyE: [email protected] M: 07977 268250
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
25
Signing the contract ahead of the official launch of Transport Service Solutions: Managing Director Kevin Melling with Chair Rod Menlove, Portfolio Holder with Responsibility for Commissioning Cllr David Topping and Steph Cordon, Head of Communities at Cheshire East Council TSS Chair Gail Wait, supporting the recent ‘Catch the Bus Week’
Transport Service Solutions
A new way of delivering passenger transport in Cheshire East - and beyond
As Councils across the UK strive to continue to deliver the
best services possible against a backdrop of austerity, many
are adopting new ways of working. Cheshire East Council
is among a number who are redefining themselves as
commissioners of services, rather than direct providers - and
they have created a portfolio of new companies from some of
their existing departments. These new companies – or ASDVs
(Alternative Service Delivery Vehicles), as they are known - are
gathering momentum and gearing up to face the future.
Launched on 1 January 2015, Transport Service Solutions
is one of the Council’s newest companies. Built on the solid
foundations of the Council’s own Transport Service, the
company continues to manage the transport contract for
Cheshire East, while at the same time having more freedom
to grow its business by handling transport arrangements on
behalf of other organisations. To begin trading, the company
has received a management fee from the council along
with an initial 7 year contract to supply passenger transport
services. This takes into account a number of savings required
around efficiency, reconfiguration of services and new
company operating.
The shareholder structure is reflected in a 20% direct
ownership by Cheshire East Borough Council and an 80%
holding by Cheshire East Residents First, which is itself
a wholly owned Cheshire East Company. Cheshire East
Residents First also holds an 80% interest in other companies
set up by Cheshire East Council.
There is a positive feeling and ‘buzz’ among the staff;
everyone is encouraged to be entrepreneurial and think more
commercially, sharing ideas that may potentially flourish as
income streams and actively contributing to the business
planning process. A staff newsletter keeps all 73 staff
informed of business developments, personal achievements
and includes some light-hearted articles too. To make TSS
fit for purpose, the company recently restructured, filling a
number of long term vacant posts to broaden the company’s
skill base and increase capacity to take on new business. New
recruits with external business experience have joined the
team to complement those with public sector backgrounds
and contribute towards taking forward a dynamic, new,
commercial company culture, building in resilience and scope
for career progression. TSS has relocated to a new office
space within the Municipal Buildings in Crewe and is enjoying
its new operating environment.
The company, a united team of experienced transport
professionals, is committed to developing a business-like
approach to provide tailored solutions. Offering instant access
to a broad market place of transport operators and providers,
TSS can ensure that procured services give value for money.
Contract management and monitoring services will ensure
compliance in areas such as health and safety, driver vetting
and reliability and the company is able to offer marketing
support as part of a customised package, which is also being
offered to commercial bus operators.
Company performance will be measured against KPIs set by
the Council. Work is proceeding apace to establish meaningful
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
26
School’s Out - some of the School Crossing Patrol Team, pictured after one of their regular meetings
TSS General Manager Glen Bubb and former TSS Chair Rod Menlove with Stephen Bryce, General Manager at GHA Coaches at the launch of GHA’s new ‘Gold’ brand service at Tatton Park
internal performance measures and targets to allow
monitoring of progress, ensuring that the company meets
and contributes to agreed objectives. These KPIs must also
challenge the company to improve. Work is also in progress to
improve monitoring processes and identify and address risk.
Transport Service Solutions’ Board, comprising Senior
Managers and Directors, meets regularly to hone company
plans and ambitions, moving forward steadily to maximise
new, profitable, business opportunities. The company also has
greater freedoms around procurement and, whilst remaining
EU compliant, is no longer required to adhere to Council
procurement regulations, having developed new company
specific policies, agreed by the TSS Board.
The company shares Managing Director Kevin Melling
with two other new Council-owned companies - ANSA,
which manages waste disposal and Orbitas, Cheshire East’s
bereavement services company. The group of companies
share skills, resources and best practice. There are informal
sharing arrangements, as well as more formal arrangements,
such as HR, which is bought back from ANSA.
Said Gail Wait, recently appointed Chair, “The future is very
exciting. We see a real need for our expertise and there are
lots of opportunities for clients to benefit from the tailor-
made services we can provide. Throughout the transition
from council service to fully-fledged company, our priority
focus was to ensure the continued transport provision for our
thousands of customers travelling on school, local and flexible
transport services and it is a credit to all in TSS for making the
transition successfully and seamlessly. Going forward, we are
very customer focussed and committed to delivering high
quality services that meet our customers’ needs. As a council
service we achieved a lot and managed to deliver significant
savings. As a company, we are able to move forward with
confidence and resilience.”
TSS currently manages the provision of home to school
transport for over 4,500 children, the issue of more than
66,000 concessionary travel passes per year, maintains 1,483
bus stops and shelters across Cheshire East, updates 1,170 bus
timetable displays and manages over 600 transport contracts
annually to help people connect with work and education. It
also manages a team of School Crossing Patrol staff across the
borough.
The company is also working closely with operators to
promote bus services, investing in routes to reduce subsidy.
Following the successful development and launch of GHA
Coaches’ new ‘Gold’ brand commuter service, TSS used its
design and marketing expertise to rebrand Congleton’s
‘Beartown’ service with a friendly ‘furry’ livery, introducing
a new ‘Bear Hug’ group saver ticket and travel incentives.
Entering into the spirit of the launch, Finance Manager Mike
Wall donned a bear costume and entertained guests before
boarding the bus for the promotional photoshoot. The ‘Gold’
brand is being rolled out to other routes. So far both services
are showing an upsurge in passenger numbers and further
promotion is planned to encourage more bus travel.
TSS also has a small in-house fleet, used mainly for SEN
transport. A review of the viability of the fleet has been
undertaken and there are plans to extend operations as
opportunities appear.
Glen Bubb, General Manager, explained “We have always been
very careful to nurture good customer relationships with our
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
27
Launch guests make themselves comfortable on board the ‘Beartown Bus’
The launch of GHA’s new ‘Beartown Buses’ – with Glen Bubb, Mike Wall/Bear, Finance Manager, Managing Director Kevin Melling and TSS representatives Sue Benson (marketing), Sarah Tunstall Business and Projects Manager and Clair Kiffin, Transport Coordinator
suppliers and operators and be as cooperative as possible.
We appreciate that our partners contribute greatly to our
success and we are keen to give local operators and suppliers
every opportunity to work with us for mutual benefit. We
also live by our values, which include putting customers at
the centre of everything we do, taking pride in our work,
valuing our employees and being open and honest, as well
as flexible and innovative. We are currently looking at a wide
variety of business opportunities, at the same time striving
to drive down costs by reviewing and re-engineering delivery
processes to provide even greater efficiency. Customer
satisfaction is paramount and the positive relationships we
already enjoy will play a big part in helping TSS become a
sustainable and profitable business.”
From September, TSS will be working with a large local school
to provide a total transport solution for its students, plugging
gaps in provision. This includes travel for non-entitled
students as well as those receiving support, introducing
improved payment methods and ticketing arrangements and
providing information booklets for parents. To streamline
operations, TSS will be working with one operator to provide
all home to school transport for the school.
Cheshire East Council has been successful in securing one of
the largest allocations of Total Transport Pilot funding and
TSS are looking forward to acting as a lead contractor on this
bid, working with the Council’s commissioners to review rural
transport provision and develop new and innovative ways to
deliver transport in rural areas.
Further opportunities are being explored with schools,
colleges and health sector departments to help more people
access activities and amenities. The future looks busy, but
Transport Service Solutions is ready for it.
To find out more about what we do or how we can work with
you, please contact:
Sarah TunstallBusiness and Projects Manager on 01270 371480 or Glen Bubb, General Manager on 01270 371487
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
28
Editor’s note
In these times of budget cuts and associated pressures and issues, it has been encouraging to see the enthusiasm, interest and energy generated by the Total Transport initiative.
For over 30 years, transport integration has been promoted
as the obvious thing to do. There is little doubt that it makes
sense, offering opportunities to provide more or better
services for less. However, achieving such integration has
proved more difficult due to various organisational and
operational barriers. Achieving effective and efficient
solutions often comes down to relationships and
communication. Good partnerships between organisations
are crucial to achieving integrated approaches. And
partnerships are only ever as good as the representatives who
come around the table to consider a joint approach and their
willingness to maintain their interest.
It’s good that the DfT has put £7.6m into encouraging a
‘Total Transport’ approach; hopefully the initiative will help
overcome some of those barriers. ATCO has offered to co-
ordinate activity and networking around the Total Transport
programme on behalf of the DfT. As such, I have been leading
this for ATCO. Over the summer, 5 regional Total Transport
groups have been established to cover the whole of England,
and these have started meeting to share knowledge and
encourage joint working on certain elements. A national
forum has also been established, comprising national
stakeholders, regional representatives and representatives of
a number of the larger ‘Total Transport’ pilot projects.
I recently attended a meeting of the ATCO Northern Total
Transport Group, which was attended, either personally
or by teleconference, by virtually all Total Transport pilot
authorities across the north of England. There were some
very useful discussions on engagement with the health sector,
joint working on the development of software systems, and
the planning of a regional seminar to further promote joint
working and understanding between transport and health
sectors. Whilst Total Transport marks a positive step for ATCO,
so too has been the establishment of an ATCO community of
interest around the theme of independent travel training. A
recent gathering in London saw 40 people attend, all keen to
share experiences and ideas.
It is really good to see ATCO at work in these new ways.
Networking and sharing is what ATCO is all about. It is what
provides real benefits to members and their authorities. So, I
would encourage you to get involved and to be active within
and for ATCO in whatever ways you can.
Peter HardyEditor, ATCO NewsE: [email protected] M: 07977 268250
New Atco MembersLynne Penn Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Phillip Milward Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Jason Salter Wiltshire County Council
Carin McCullagh Ecebs
Keith McNally CPT
Stephen Ashley Matrix-SPS Ltd
Nick Phillips Borough of Poole Council
Jacqui Elliott Kent County Council
Barry Richards Bath & North East Somerset Council
Martin Ware Bath & North East Somerset Council
Nick Doolan Central Bedfordshire Council
Dave Streeton Central Bedfordshire Council
Alan Barrett Gloucestershire County Council
Chris Hegarty Nottingham City Council
Jan Chisholm Northumberland County Council
Kirsten Francis Northumberland County Council
Terry Cheeseman Lincolnshire County Council
Lynn Wade Lincolnshire County Council
Helen Reek North Lincolnshire Council
Philip Smith Derbyshire County Council A
TCO
New
s Su
mm
er 2
015
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
Trueform Engineering Ltd ı 12 Pasadena Close ı Hayes ı Middlesex UB3 3NQ
T: 020 8561 4959 ı F: 020 8848 1397 ı [email protected] ı www.trueform.co.uk
Since establishment in 1977 we have been at the forefront of innovation,
design, engineering and service, offering a ‘One-Stop- Shop’ for the
supply, installation and maintenance of all forms of intelligent passenger
transport hardware, transport information and communication
technologies.
Trueform have a proven track record in the provision of ‘integrated’ and ‘coordinated’
hardware & advanced technology solutions for public transportation that attract travellers
and reduced congestion by successfully transforming the ‘waiting experience’.
Trueform’s Hardware solutions include transit stops, shelters, interchanges, mobility hubs
stations, canopies, advanced RTI displays, interactive journey planning kiosks, wayfinding
systems, CCTV security and solar energy systems.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
BUS STOPS & BUS SHELTERS
CANOPIES & WALKWAYS
WAYFINDING SIGNAGE & RTI DISPLAYS
www.trueform.co.uk
INTERCHANGES & STATIONS
Bus Stops Bus Shelters RTI Displays Canopies & Walkways
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
Trueform Engineering Ltd ı 12 Pasadena Close ı Hayes ı Middlesex UB3 3NQ
T: 020 8561 4959 ı F: 020 8848 1397 ı [email protected] ı www.trueform.co.uk
Since establishment in 1977 we have been at the forefront of innovation,
design, engineering and service, offering a ‘One-Stop- Shop’ for the
supply, installation and maintenance of all forms of intelligent passenger
transport hardware, transport information and communication
technologies.
Trueform have a proven track record in the provision of ‘integrated’ and ‘coordinated’
hardware & advanced technology solutions for public transportation that attract travellers
and reduced congestion by successfully transforming the ‘waiting experience’.
Trueform’s Hardware solutions include transit stops, shelters, interchanges, mobility hubs
stations, canopies, advanced RTI displays, interactive journey planning kiosks, wayfinding
systems, CCTV security and solar energy systems.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
BUS STOPS & BUS SHELTERS
CANOPIES & WALKWAYS
WAYFINDING SIGNAGE & RTI DISPLAYS
www.trueform.co.uk
INTERCHANGES & STATIONS
Bus Stops Bus Shelters RTI Displays Canopies & Walkways
ATC
O N
ews
Sum
mer
201
5
Ferrograph ı 1 New York Way ı Newcastle upon Tyne ı NE27 0QF
T: 0191 280 8800 ı F: 0191 280 8810 ı [email protected] ı www.ferrograph.com
Ferrograph is a world leading public information display brand.
30 years of experience has positioned Ferrograph as the authority in the design and
manufacture of rugged electronic displays for airports, bus stops / interchanges, rail stations
and platforms and underground / subway stations. Ferrograph offer the latest visual display
technology including LED, LCD and TFT.
ELECTRONIC REAL TIME INFORMATION DISPLAYS AND KIOSKS
RUGGED ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS
INTERACTIVE TFT TOUCHSCREEN KIOSKS
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TOTEMS
ı
Ferrograph is a world leading public information display brand.
30 years of experience has positioned Ferrograph as the authority in the design
and manufacture of rugged electronic displays for airports, bus stops /
interchanges, rail stations and platforms and underground / subway stations.
Ferrograph offer the latest visual display technology including LED, LCD and TFT.
ELECTRONIC REAL TIME INFORMATION DISPLAYS
TOUCH SCREENS
ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS
ıFerrograph ı 1 New York Way ı Newcastle upon Tyne ı NE27 0QF
T: 0191 280 8800 F: 0191 280 8810 [email protected] ı www.ferrograph.com ı
INTERACTIVE KIOSKS
AND KIOSKS
Electronic Information Totems Rugged LED Displays Rugged TFT Displays RTI Displays